LETTERS 


FROM     AN 


AMERICAN    FARMER. 


Letters  from  an 
American  Farmer 

By 

J.  Hector  St.  John  Crevecoeur 


Reprinted  from  the  Original  Edition 


With  a  Prefatory  Note  by 

W.  P.   TRENT 


And  an  Introduction  by 

LUDWIG    LEWISOHN 


NEW   YORK 

FOX,  DUFFIELD  &  COMPANY 

1904 


I'/; 


Copyright,    1904,  by 
Fox,   DUFFIELD  &  COMPANY 


PREFATORY    NOTE. 


There  are  at  least  two  good  reasons  why  I 
should  have  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  writing 
a  short  preface  to  this  new  edition  of  Creve- 
coeur's  Letters  from  an  American  Farmer, 
which  makes  a  tardy  appearance  one  hundred 
and  eleven  years  after  Matthew  Carey's 
homely  reprint  of  the  first  London  edition.  It 
was  partly  in  consequence  of  some  praise  of 
mine  that  the  present  publishers  made  an  ex 
amination  of  the  book  and  determined  to  try 
to  give  it  a  new  lease  of  life;  it  was  also  in 
consequence  of  my  interest  in  the  matter  that 
Mr.  Lewisohn  undertook  the  task  of  editing 
the  volume. 

That  such  a  task  should  be  undertaken  has 
been  very  clear  to  me  since  I  read  an  article 
by  Professor  Selden  L.  Whitcomb  on  'Nature 
in  Early  American  Literature/  which  was  pub 
lished  in  The  Sewanee  Review  for  February, 
1894.  Professor  Whitcomb  paid  such  a  trib 
ute  to  Crevecoeur's  merits  as  a  poet-naturalist 
that  I  could  not  rest  satisfied  until  I  had  secured 

a  copy 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 

a  copy  of  the  Letters  and  read  them  for  myself. 
Since  then,  although  I  have  been  permitted  to 
add  my  mite  to  the  slowly  accumulating  critical 
testimony  with  regard  to  the  enduring  charm 
of  one  of  the  few  early  American  books  that 
fairly  deserves  to  be  ranked  as  a  minor  classic, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  rest  satisfied  because, 
owing  to  the  rarity  of  Crevecoeur's  volume, 
the  pleasure  I  had  received  could  not  be  shared 
with  many  others.  There  is  no  reason  now,  how 
ever,  why  the  sane,  sympathetic,  open-eyed 
Norman-American  of  a  century  and  a  quarter 
ago  should  not  make  as  fast,  if  not  almost  as 
many  friends  among  modern  readers  as  he  won 
for  himself  during  his  lifetime  by  his  genial 
Letters  and,  we  cannot  doubt,  by  his  genial 
manners.  Surely  the  latter-day  public  ought  to 
be  willing  to  welcome  an  author  who  can  no 
longer  lure  them  to  take  up  their  abodes  in  the 
wilderness,  but  may  lure  them  to  forget  in  the 
ideal  past  the  cares  of  the  real  present. 

But  even  should  his  Letters  in  this  new  form 
be  most  kindly  received,  one  regret  must  still 
remain  to  all  admirers  of  Crevecoeur,  a  re 
gret  connected  with  the  man  himself.  De 
spite  his  efforts,  Mr.  Lewisohn  has  been 
able  to  add  but  little  to  our  knowledge  of  Cre- 
vecoeur's  life  and  character.  French  antiquaries 
have  been  consulted,  the  records  of  the  French 

Consulate 
vi 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 

Consulate  in  New  York  have  been  searched, 
and  various  masses  of  correspondence  have 
been  examined;  but  nothing  of  special  bio 
graphical  value  has  been  found  save  the  letters 
from  Mme.  d'  Houdetot  and  Crevecoeur 
printed  at  the  end  of  the  volume.  For  knowl 
edge  of  these,  permission  to  use  them,  and 
other  help,  our  hearty  thanks  are  due  to  Pro 
fessor  Albert  H.  Smyth  of  Philadelphia. 

To  enter  here  upon  any  discussion  of  Creve- 
coeur's  merits  as  a  writer  would  be  not  only  to 
intrude  upon  Mr.  Lewisohn's  province,  but  to 
repeat  myself.  I  cannot  forbear,  however,  call 
ing  attention  to  the  probability  that  Creve- 
coeur's  ideal  American  of  1780,  although  no 
where  to  be  seen  in  the  provincial  republic  of 
those  days,  was  an  actual  presence  through  the 
formative  influence  he  exerted.  Crevecoeur's 
imagination  bodied  forth  such  an  ideal  citi 
zen  of  an  ideal  land  as  some  old-time  Ameri 
cans  fancied  themselves  to  be  and  as  most  of 
them  wished  to  be.  In  other  words,  the  liter 
ary  farmer  gave  early  expression  to  an  ideal 
which  has  been  held  up  to  us  in  one  way  or 
another  for  more  than  a  century — an  ideal 
which  is  still  effective  save  upon  sophisticated 
communities  and  individuals.  Such  a  service 
is  easily  misunderstood  and  underestimated,  but 
Crevecoeur's  services  as  a  lover  and  interpreter 

of 

vii 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 

of  nature  are  fortunately  in  no  danger  of  be 
ing  overlooked  to-day.  Indeed,  as  a  pioneer 
poet-naturalist  he  could  not  well  be  revived  in 
a  more  propitious  season,  and  time  has  lent  in 
terest  and  historical  value  to  his  observations 
of  primitive  Americans  and  their  institutions. 
Washington  was  right  when  he  declared  that 
the  French  consul's  book  would  "afford  a  great 
deal  of  profitable  and  amusive  information"; 
he  also  showed  his  customary  prudence  when  he 
added  that  perhaps  the  picture,  "though  found 
ed  on  fact,  is  in  some  instances  embellished 
with  rather  too  flattering  circumstances." 

In  short,  Crevecoeur's  Letters  is  both  a  book 
worth  reading  for  its  own  sake,  and  one  worth 
remembering  as  an  excellent  illustration  of  the 
truth  that  American  literature  has  always  been 
and  must  always  be  a  product  of  old-world 
culture  modified  by  new-world  conditions.^  In 
its  pages \  literary  tradition  blends  with  the 
buoyant  spirit  of  a  new  nation  in  the  making 
and  with  the  charm  of  virgin  rivers  and  hills 
and  plains. 

W.  P.  TRENT. 

Columbia  University,  New  York. 


viii 


INTRODUCTION. 
I. 

There  is  a  charming  passage  in  Hazlitt's 
essay  "On  Going  a  Journey"  in  which  he 
tells  how,  on  a  day  ever  memorable  to  him,  he 
first  read  Rousseau  in  the  parlor  of  a  country 
inn,  and  thus  plighted  faith  with  one  of  his 
favorite  books  and  authors.  In  many  things 
Rousseau  appealed  to  this  restless  and  impetu 
ous  spirit,  in  nothing  perhaps  more  than  in 
the  note  of  joy  and  peace  in  Nature,  which 
sounds  again  and  again  in  the  literature  of  the 
succeeding  years,  not  always  with  such  large 
ness,  yet  sometimes  with  an  almost  equal 
charm.  Among  other  books  in  which  this  note 
could  be  heard  there  fell  into  Hazlitt's  hands 
a  little  volume  of  double  interest  to  him  by 
reason  of  his  own  early  sojourn  in  America, 
and  in  a  fitting  connection  he  gave  it  a  word 
of  praise.  In  the  Edinburgh  Review  for  Oc 
tober,  1829,  he  speaks  of  it  as  giving  one  an 
idea  "how  American  scenery  and  manners  may 
be  treated  with  a  lively  poetic  interest.  .  . 
The  pictures  are  sometimes  highly  colored, 

but 
ix 


INTRODUCTION. 

but  they  are  vivid  and  strikingly  character 
istic."  "The  author,"  he  continues,  "gives  not 
only  the  objects,  but  the  feelings  of  a  new 
country."  Hazlitt  had  read  the  book  and  had 
been  delighted  with  it  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century  before  he  wrote  of  it,  and  in  the  ear 
liest  years  of  the  century  he  had  commended  it 
warmly  to  his  friends.  In  November,  1805, 
Lamb  wrote :  "Oh,  tell  Hazlitt  not  to  forget 
the  American  Farmer.  I  dare  say  it  is  not  so 
good  as  he  fancies;  but  a  book's  a  book."* 
And  it  is  this  book,  which  not  only  gained  the 
sympathies  of  Hazlitt  and  Charles  Lamb,  but 
also  by  its  idealized  treatment  of  American 
country  life  may  possibly  have  stirred,  as  Pro 
fessor  Moses  Coit  Tyler  thought,  the  imagina 
tions  of  Byron  and  Coleridge,  of  which  a  re 
print  is  here  undertaken  after  the  passing  of 
more  than  one  hundred  years. 

The  little  volume  had  made  its  mark  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  not  many  years  before 
Hazlitt  noticed  it.  It  appeared  in  London  in 
1782  with  this  somewhat  ponderous  title-page: 
"Letters  from  an  American  Farmer,  Describ 
ing  Certain  Provincial  Situations,  Manners  and 
Customs,  and  Conveying  Some  Idea  Of  The 
State  Of  The  People  Of  North  America,  Writ 
ten 

*  Lamb's  works,  ed.  Ainger,  vol.  3,  pg.  221.    The  letter 
is  dated  Nov.  10, 1805,  not  Nov.  18,  as  given  by  Duyckinck. 


INTRODUCTION. 

ten  to  a  Friend  in  England,  By  J.  Hector  St. 
John,  A  Farmer  In  Pennsylvania,",  A  new 
English  edition  appeared  in  the  year  following, 
and  an  American  reprint  of  the  e ditto  princeps 
was  brought  out  by  Matthew  Carey  in  Phila 
delphia  in  1793.  In  the  meantime  its  author, 
whose  full  name  was  J.  Hector  Saint  John  de 
Crevecoeur,  had  himself  translated  the  book 
into  French,  adding  to  it  very  considerably, 
and  publishing  it  in  Paris  in  1784.*  A  sec 
ond  French  edition,  still  further  enlarged  and 
containing  excellent  maps  and  plates,  appeared 
in  1787.  These  bibliographical  facts  are  sig 
nificant.  They  show  that  for  at  least  twenty 
years,  probably  for  a  much  longer  period,  the 
"Letters  from  an  American  Farmer"  was  an 
important  interpreter  of  the  New  World  to  the 
Old.  It  seems  to  have  been  in  answer  to  a  de 
mand  aroused  by  his  first  book  that  Crevecoeur 
ventured  to  treat  the  same  theme  once  more. 
But  the  three  bulky  volumes  of  his  "Journey 
in  Upper  Pennsylvania"  (1801)  contain  little 
that  is  now  or  illuminating. t 

For 

*  "Lettres  D'un  Cultivateur  Americain.  Ecrites  A.  W. 
S.  Ecuyer,  Depuis  L'Annee  1170  jusqu'al  1781.  Traduites 
de  1'Anglois  par 

t  The  full  title  is:  "Voyage  Dans  La  Haute  Pennsyl- 
vanie,  Et  Dans  L'Etat  de  New-York,  Par  un  Membre 
adoptif  de  la  nation  Oneida.  Traduit  et  publiee  par  1'au- 
teur  des  Lettres  D'Un  Cultivateur  Americain."  There 
has  been  no  reprint.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  Creve 
coeur  merely  pretended  to  have  translated  the  book. 


INTRODUCTION. 

For  many  years  after  Hazlitt  had  sounded 
his  note  of  praise,  Crevecoeur  and  his  work  re 
mained  practically  unknown.  The  ideas  for 
which  he  stood,  the  literary  atmosphere  that  he 
created,  were  both  old-fashioned.  Few  people 
took  Rousseau  from  their  upper  shelves,  and 
the  dust  gathered  on  the  tomes  of  Chateau 
briand.  Even  Werther  was  more  talked  about 
than  read.  And  so  no  one  cared  for  this 
Earthly  Paradise  of  the  Age  of  Reason  dashed 
with  Rousseau's  sentimentality,  filled  with  his 
love  of  Nature,  and  prophetic  of  the  whole 
Emigrant  literature  of  France.*  It  was  not 
until  Americans  stopped  to  consider  the  origins 
of  their  national  culture  that  Crevecoeur  was 
again  remembered  and  mentioned.  The  late 
Professor  Moses  Coit  Tyler  gave  an  appre 
ciative  account  of  the  man  and  the  book  in  his 
"Literary  History  of  the  American  Revolu 
tion,"  and  since  then  no  competent  historian  of 
American  literature  has  omitted  a  notice  of 
Crevecoeur  and  the  "Letters  from  an  Ameri 
can  Farmer." 


*  See   Georg  Brandes'  "Main  Currents  of   igth  Cen 
tury  Literature,"  vol.  i.  passim. 

xii 


INTRODUCTION. 
II. 

J.  Hector  Saint  John  de  Crevecoeur  was 
born  at  Caen  on  January  31,  1735,  of  a  noble 
family  which  had  played  some  part  in  Norman 
history  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century.  In  1747, 
in  his  sixteenth  year,  Crevecoeur  was  sent  by 
his  family  to  England  in  order  to  complete  his 
education.  But  the  young  man  was  of  an  adven 
turous  spirit,  and  after  a  sojourn  of  about  seven 
years  in  England,  he  set  sail  for  Canada,  where 
for  the  years  1758-59  he  served  in  the  French 
army.  In  1764,  after  some  residence  in  Penn 
sylvania,  he  became  a  naturalized  citizen  of 
New  York,  and  five  years  later  settled  on  a 
farm  in  Ulster  County.  Here,  with  his  wife, 
Mahetable  Tiffet  of  Yonkers,  he  lived  the 
peaceful  life  of  many  idyllic  years  during 
which  he  gathered  the  materials  for  his 
book.  Obviously  enough  he  did  not  al 
ways  remain  on  his  farm,  but  viewed  many 
parts  of  the  country  with  a  quietly  observing 
eye.  These  journeys  are  recorded  in  his  pages. 
He  explored  pretty  thoroughly  the  settled  por 
tions  of  the  States  of  New  York  and  Pennsyl 
vania,  saw  something  of  New  England,  and 
also  penetrated  westward  to  the  limits  of  the 
colonies.  He  went  as  far  South  as  Charleston, 
and  may  have  visited  Jamaica.  Beyond  such 
journeyings  we  may  imagine  these  years  to 

have 

xiii 


INTRODUCTION. 

have  been  quite  barren  of  events,  serene  and 
peaceful,  until  the  storm  of  the  Revolution  be 
gan  to  break.  It  is  not  until  1779  that  anything 
of  import  is  again  recorded  of  Crevecoeur.  In 
that  year  he  made  an  attempt  to  return  to  Nor 
mandy,  but  the  sudden  appearance  of  a  French 
fleet  in  the  harbor  of  New  York  causing  him 
to  be  suspected  as  a  spy,  he  was  imprisoned 
for  three  months.  He  was  then  permitted  to 
sail,  and,  on  his  arrival  in  England,  sold  for 
thirty  guineas  his  "Letters  from  an  American 
Farmer,"  which  were  published  at  London  in 
1782,  the  year  after  he  reached  France. 

The  success  of  his  book  and  his  efforts  to  im 
prove  the  agricultural  conditions  of  Normandy 
made  Crevecoeur  a  welcome  guest  in  France. 
He  spent  some  pleasant  months  in  French  liter 
ary  society,  into  which  he  was  probably  intro 
duced  by  Mme.  de  Houdetot,  one  of  the  many 
heroines  of  Rousseau's  "Confessions."  To  this 
lady,  an  old  friend  of  his  father,  he  also  owed 
his  introduction  to  Franklin.*  He  returned 
to  America  at  the  end  of  1783. 

Here  sorrow  and  desolation  awaited  him. 
His  wife  had  died  a  few  weeks  before  his  ar 
rival,  his  farm  had  been  ravaged,  his  children 
were  in  the  care  of  strangers.  But  as  he  had 
been  appointed  French  Consul  in  New  York 
with  the  especially  expressed  approbation  of 

Washington 

*Cf.  Appendix  pp.  331-332. 


xiv 


INTRODUCTION. 

Washington  he  remained  in  America  six  years 
longer,  with  only  one  brief  interval  spent  in 
France.  Notwithstanding  the  disastrous  prac 
tical  influence  of  his  book,  through  which  five 
hundred  Norman  families  are  said  to  have 
perished  in  the  forests  of  Ohio,  he  was  now  an 
honored  citizen  in  his  adopted  country,  distin 
guished  by  Washington,  and  the  friend  of 
Franklin.  In  these  later  years  he  accompanied 
Franklin  on  various  journeys,  one  of  which  is 
recorded  in  the  "Voyage  Dans  La  Haute  Penn- 
sylvanie."  In  1790  he  returned  to  France,  liv 
ing  now  at  Rouen,  now  at  Sarcelles,  where  he 
died  on  November  12,  1813.  He  was  a  man  of 
"serene  temper  and  pure  benevolence,"  of  good 
sense  and  sound  judgment;  something  also 
of  a  dreamer,  yet  of  a  rhetorical  rather  than 
a  poetical  temperament;  typically  French, 
since  there  were  in  him  no  extremes  of 
opinion  or  emotion.  He  followed  the  dictates 
of  his  reason  tempered  by  the  warmth  of  his 
heart,  and  treated  life  justly  and  sanely. 


III. 

'  Crevecoeur's  book  differs  from  other  works 
descriptive  of  early  conditions  in  America  in 

that 

XV 


INTRODUCTION. 

Uthat  it  should  be  regarded  primarily  as  a  piece 
of  literature!"!  Beyond  the  information  that  is 
given  by  it  there  is  the  more  permanent  sig 
nificance  of  its  tone  and  atmosphere,  of  its 
singularly  engaging  style,  and  of  the  fact  that 
it  forms  part  of  a  great  literary  movement. 
This  literary  movement,  of  which  the  master 
pieces  are  Rousseau's  "Confessions,"  Ste. 
Pierre's  "Paul  et  Virginie,"  Goethe's  "Sor 
rows  of  Werther,"  and  Chateaubriand's  "Les 

if    n«   A^*"       \    XT         i  n    i  A  • 

Natchez,     has  an  American  representative  in 
these  letters  of  a  Pennsylvania  farmer. 

Crevecoeur  sought  and  found,  or  imagined 
that  he  had  found,  that  land  of  plain  living 
and  high  thinking,  of  simple  virtue  and  un- 
trammeled  manhood,  which  was  one  of  the 
dreams  of  his  age.  Here  were  none  of  those 
social  distinctions  against  which  Werther  so 
bitterly  rebelled.  The  restraints  of  law  were 
reduced  to  a  minimum  and  in  Crevecoeur's  fa 
vorite  Society  of  Friends  (of  which  he  gave  a 
long  account  to  his  French  countrymen)  there 
were  not  even  priests.  In  a  word,  the  spiritual 
rebellion  of  that  period  was  essentially  a  re 
bellion  against  institutions,  and  the  real  corre 
sponded  very  nearly  to  the  ideal  in  colonial 
America.  Beyond  the  limits  of  the  colonies, 
moreover,  the  absolute  ideal  hovered.  This 
was  the  Indian ;  not  the  red  man  of  actual  flesh 

and 


XVI 


INTRODUCTION. 

and  blood,  but  the  Tenewissa  of  Crevecoeur, 
and  the  Atala  of  Chateaubriand.  The  pres 
sure  of  the  tyrannous  centuries  drove  men  to 
an  ideal  of  extreme  liberty.  It  was  the  Indian, 
living  in  uninterrupted  communion  with  Na 
ture,  and  within  the  most  flexible  of  societies, 
whom  they  contrasted  with  the  European  held 
in  the  iron  vise  of  a  complex  and  traditional 
social  order.  All  the  undeniable  charm  of  this 
ideal  of  freedom,  of  simplicity,  of  a  life  close 
to  Nature,  Crevecoeur  embodied  in  his  book. 
From  the  exaggerations  into  which  many  of  the 
men  of  his  time  had  fallen,  he  was  saved  by 
his  sane  and  practical  turn  of  mind.  But  fully 
conscious  as  he  was  of  the  actual  work-a-day 
America  in  which  he  lived,  he  was  more  pro 
foundly  moved  by  the  fact  that  he  had  indeed 
found  a  country, 

"In  happy  climes  the  seat  of  innocence, 
Where  Nature  guides  and  virtue  rules," 

and  it  is  this  country,  half-real,  half-ideal, 
which  he  sets  out  to  describe. 

But  here   a   qualification   should  be   made. 
'  Crevecoeur  was  a  lover  of  Nature  like  Rous- 
'seau;  he  united  in  himself,  as  did  the  members 
of  the   Emigrant  group,    revolutionary   ideas 
with  romantic  tendencies;  but  in  the  melan 
choly 
xvii 


INTRODUCTION. 

choly  of  his  time  and  in  its  weariness  of  life 
he  had  no  share.  He  was  an  indomitable 
optimist.  In  the  value  and  joy  of  that  phase 
of  life  which  he  described  he  believed  heartily, 
as  well  as  in  the  future  of  the  colonies,  and  in 
the  beneficent  effect  of  that  future  on  the  for 
tunes  of  mankind.  To  him  the  meaning  of 
"Weltschmerz"  was  unknown,  as  it  must  be 
to  every  one,  who  finds,  as  he  did,  a  continual 
source  of  pure  joy  in  the  ordinary  duties  of 
life's  working-day.  In  this  respect,  indeed,  the 
"Letters  from  an  American  Farmer"  is  a 
book  of  tonic  quality.  To  extract  joy  from 
common  duties,  t^clothe  them  with  a  real  dig 
nity,  not  to  weary  oF them  in  the  slow  process 
of  the  years — this  is  no  easy  or  unworthy 
task,  and  to  have  described  its  performance 
with  power  and  charm  is  a  service  at  once  liter 
ary  and  ethical. 

The  twelve  letters  of  the  volume  here  re 
printed  have  but  slight  logical  sequence.  The 
simple  American  farmer  who  is  supposed  to 
have  written  them  selects  certain  phases  of 
colonial  life,  inner  and  outer,  and  talks  about 
them  easily  and  gracefully,  rising  only  now  and 
then  to  any  real  intensity  of  utterance.  The 
introductory  letter  is  quaint  and  garrulous,  but 
is  immediately  followed  by  the  admirable  bit 
of  literature  furnished  by  the  second  letter, 

"On 

xviii 


INTRODUCTION. 

"On  the  situation,  feelings,  and  pleasures  of 
an  American  farmer." 

The  broadly  simple,  elementary  emotions 
of  humanity  do  not  often  find  their  way  into 
literature  as  they  do  in  this  second  letter  of 
Crevecoeur.  He  is  proud  of  his  essential  priv 
ileges  as  a  mere  man.  He  is  moved  by  the  sight 
of  his  wife  and  children,  for  they  are  his,  and 
the  objects  of  his  protecting  care.  He  loves 
the  acres  which  he  tills  and  which  had  been 
cleared  and  tilled  before  him.  The  daily 
labors  of  his  farm  are  saturated  for  him  with 
sentiment,  and  his  life  is  filled  with  love.  His 
cattle,  his  chickens,  above  all  his  bees,  and  the 
wild  doves  that  circle  above  his  house — all 
these  he  surrounds  with  an  emotional  atmos 
phere.  Without  fail  he  captures  the  aroma  of 
life. 

But  Crevecoeur  was  after  all  a  Frenchman, 
with  the  strong  social  instinct  of  his  race.  And 
so  he  proceeds  to  analyze  and  define  the  politi 
cal  conditions  of  America.  It  fills  him  with  a 
quiet  but  deep  satisfaction  to  be  one  of  a  com 
munity  of  "freeholders,  the  possessors  of  the 
soil  they  cultivate,  members  of  the  government 
they  obey,  and  the  framers  of  their  own  laws 
by  means  of  their  representatives."  Thus  he 
rises  to  a  consideration  of  this  new  type  of 
social  man  and  seeks  to  answer  the  question: 

What 


INTRODUCTION. 

What  is  an  American?  His  answer  is  delight 
ful  literature,  but  fanciful  sociology.  Had  the 
colonial  farmers  all  been  Crevecoeurs,  had  they 
all  possessed  his  ideality,  his  power  of  raising 
simple  things  into  true  human  dignity,  of  con 
necting  the  homeliest  activity  with  the  ultimate 
social  purpose  which  it  furthers  in  its  own  small 
way,  his  description  of  the  American  would 
have  been  fair  enough.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  hard-working  colonial  farmer,  cut  off  from 
the  refining  and  subduing  influences  of  an  older 
civilization,  was  probably  no  very  delectable 
type,  however  worthy,  and  one  fears  that  Pro 
fessor  Wendell  is  right  in  declaring  that  Cre- 
vecoeur's  American  is  no  more  human  than 
ideal  savage  of  Voltaire.  But  in  this 
fact  lies  much  of  the  literary  charm  of  his 
work,  and  of  its  value  as  a  human  document  of 
the  age  of  the  Revolution. 

The  five  letters  on  Nantucket  and  Martha's 
Vineyard  are  illustrative  of  one  of  Crevecoeur's 
favorite  theses.  "All,"  he  says,  "is  local  with 
man,  his  virtues  and  his  vices,  his  tastes,  and 
even  his  prejudices."  And  this  inhospitable 
rock  must  have  produced  either  "health,  tem 
perance,  and  a  great  equality  of  conditions,  or 
the  most  abject  misery."  And  then  he  relates 
that  homely  epic  of  brave  fishermen  and  farers 
of  the  sea.  Did  these  fishermen  feel  such  ro 
mance 


XX 


INTRODUCTION. 

mance  in  their  fate  and  calling  as  Crevecoeur 
would  have  us  believe?  It  hardly  matters. 
The  romance  is  recorded  here  not  unworthily; 
recorded,  too,  with  that  blending  of  two  seem 
ingly  discordant  notes  so  characteristic  of  Cre 
vecoeur.  He  is  full  of  the  wild  and  adventurous 
atmosphere  of  this  barren  rock  that  sends  out 
its  intrepid  whalers  to  hunt  over  all  oceans. 
.But  on  the  other  hand,  he  never  loses  sight  of 
the  economic  significance  of  their  pursuit.  Per 
haps  he  inherited  his  sense  for  mystery  and 
romance  from  remote  Norman  ancestors,  toil 
ers  of  the  sea,  but  he  never  lets  us  forget  long 
that  he  is  a  colonial  American,  capable  of  re 
garding  things  with  the  shrewd^.eyes^bT  a 
Franklin. 

Then  comes  a  sudden  change  of  tone  and 
feeling.  In  the  ninth  letter,  which  contains  a 
description  of  Charleston,  Crevecoeur  tells  of 
conditions  that  were  entirely  repugnant  both  to 
his  natural  temperament  and  to  his  acquired 
opinions.  He  loved  measure,  order,  a  quiet 
prosperity,  the  homely  virtues  of  life.  He  was 
hardly  the  man  to  regard  with  sympathy  the 
life  of  Charleston.  In  all  probability  his  re 
marks  on  slavery  are  particularly  untrustworthy. 
A  humanitarian  of  the  Age  of  the  Revolution, 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  or,  at  least, 
closely  connected  with  it — he  was  as  incapable 

of 


INTRODUCTION. 

of  approaching  the  slavery  problem  dispas 
sionately  as  was  some  friend  or  follower  of 
Wilberforce.  At  the  same  time,  the  powerful 
though  repressed  emotion  with  which  he  relates 
the  almost  incredible  incident  of  the  negro  left 
to  perish  in  a  cage,  bears  witness  in  a  man  of 
Crevecoeur's  sincerity,  to  the  fact  that  he  must 
have  seen  not  a  little  of  callousness  and  in- 


Thtentj  lw£/,  "On  Snakes  and  on  the 
HummmgsBrfcV  comes  in  the  form  of  a 
charming  interlude  after  the  tense  atmosphere 
of  the  description  of  Charleston.  As  a  matter 
of  pure  literature  the  fight  between  the  two 
snakes  is  one  of  the  two  or  three  best  things 
in  the  whole  book.  Every  stroke  in  the  descrip 
tion  tells,  yet  there  is  not  the  slightest  appear 
ance  of  effort.  In  the  next  letter,  the  account 
of  a  visit  to  the  Pennsylvania  botanist  Bar- 
tram,  we  return  to  the  idyllic  atmosphere,  to 
the  note  of  peace  and  homely  joy,  of  the  earlier 
letters.  The  man  self-made  and  self-taught, 
who  has  since  become  almost  a  terror  in  the 
land,  is  here  portrayed  most  attractively.  He 
has  not  yet  learned  to  boast  of  his  lack  of  cul 
ture  or  to  despise  all  things  that  are  not  his. 
He  looks  upon  his  advance  with  a  quiet  pride 
that  needs  no  expression;  he  lives  with  sim 
plicity  and  dignity. 

Finally 
xxii 


INTRODUCTION. 

Finally  comes  the  powerful  twelfth  letter, 
"On  the  Distresses  of  a  Frontierman,'1  in 
which  Crevecoeur  at  last  breaks  his  reticence 
with  regard  to  the  Revolution.  The  letter  is 
of  the  highest  interest  for  more  than  one  rea 
son.  Wars  and  revolutions  as  they  fade  away 
in  the  distance  of  time  acquire  a  form  that  is 
well-nigh  artistic.  The  imagination  casts 
aside  the  non-essential  aspects  of  great  events. 
All  details  are  indistinguishably  massed  about 
some  central  man  or  idea.  The  suffering, 

doubtin&distracted,  individual    is    fncgnffpn. 

Such  an  individual,  the  writer  of  the  letter, 
Crevecoeur  shows  us.  The  bitter,  hopeless 
agony  of  this  one  victim,  at  least,  is  brought 
home  to  the  heart.  One  of  the  many  human 
tragedies  of  that  day  survives,  told  with  a 
quiet  but  intense  power,  and  with  an  immediacy 
of  appeal  that  it  would  be  hard  to  praise  too 
highly.  The  letter  is  a  dramatic  monologue 
in  prose  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  frontierman, 
and  with  this  cry  of  pain,  so  different  from  the 
note  of  peace  with  which  it  opens,  the  book 
ends.  The  end  is  to  a  certain  extent  symbolic. 
The  quiet,  simple  colonial  days  were  over;  the 
great  upheaval  had  come,  and  the  future  was 
as  yet  unknown. 

As  to   Crevecoeur's  style   in  the  narrower 
sense,  his  translations  into  French  and  his  orig 
inal 

xxiii 


INTRODUCTION. 

of  approaching  the  slavery  problem  dispas 
sionately  as  was  some  friend  or  follower  of 
Wilberforce.  At  the  same  time,  the  powerful 
though  repressed  emotion  with  which  he  relates 
the  almost  incredible  incident  of  the  negro  left 
to  perish  in  a  cage,  bears  witness  in  a  man  of 
Crevecoeur's  sincerity,  to  the  fact  that  he  must 
have  seen  not  a  little  of  callousness  and  in- 


"On  Snakes  and  on  the 
comes  in  the  form  of  a 
charming  interlude  after  the  tense  atmosphere 
of  the  description  of  Charleston.  As  a  matter 
of  pure  literature  the  fight  between  the  two 
snakes  is  one  of  the  two  or  three  best  things 
in  the  whole  book.  Every  stroke  in  the  descrip 
tion  tells,  yet  there  is  not  the  slightest  appear 
ance  of  effort.  In  the  next  letter,  the  account 
of  a  visit  to  the  Pennsylvania  botanist  Bar- 
tram,  we  return  to  the  idyllic  atmosphere,  to 
the  note  of  peace  and  homely  joy,  of  the  earlier 
letters.  The  man  self-made  and  self-taught, 
who  has  since  become  almost  a  terror  in  the 
land,  is  here  portrayed  most  attractively.  He 
has  not  yet  learned  to  boast  of  his  lack  of  cul 
ture  or  to  despise  all  things  that  are  not  his. 
He  looks  upon  his  advance  with  a  quiet  pride 
that  needs  no  expression;  he  lives  with  sim 
plicity  and  dignity. 

Finally 

xxii 


INTRODUCTION. 

Finally  comes  the  powerful  twelfth  letter, 
"On  the  Distresses  of  a  Frontierman,"  in 
which  Crevecoeur  at  last  breaks  his  reticence 
with  regard  to  the  Revolution.  The  letter  is 
of  the  highest  interest  for  more  than  one  rea 
son.  Wars  and  revolutions  as  they  fade  away 
in  the  distance  of  time  acquire  a  form  that  is 
well-nigh  artistic.  The  imagination  casts 
aside  the  non-essential  aspects  of  great  events. 
All  details  are  indistinguishably  massed  about 
some  central  man  or  idea.  The  suffering, 
doubting^  distracted,  individual_k_iorgotten. 
Such  an  individual,  the  writer  of  the  letter, 
Crevecoeur  shows  us.  The  bitter,  hopeless 
agony  of  this  one  victim,  at  least,  is  brought 
home  to  the  heart.  One  of  the  many  human 
tragedies  of  that  day  survives,  told  with  a 
quiet  but  intense  power,  and  with  an  immediacy 
of  appeal  that  it  would  be  hard  to  praise  too 
highly.  The  letter  is  a  dramatic  monologue 
in  prose  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  frontierman, 
and  with  this  cry  of  pain,  so  different  from  the 
note  of  peace  with  which  it  opens,  the  book 
ends.  The  end  is  to  a  certain  extent  symbolic. 
The  quiet,  simple  colonial  days  were  over;  the 
great  upheaval  had  come,  and  the  future  was 
as  yet  unknown. 

As  to  Crevecoeur's  style  in  the  narrower 
sense,  his  translations  into  French  and  his  orig 
inal 


INTRODUCTION. 

inal  work  in  that  language  show  that  he  had 
to  some  extent  unlearned  his  native  speech  dur 
ing  his  many  years  of  residence  in  England  and 
America.  His  English  is  of  singular  purity, 
and  is,  upon  the  whole,  quite  idiomatic.  Its 
slight  formality  and  stiffness^are  to1  be  at 
tributed  rather  to  the  influence  of  late  eight 
eenth  century  prose  than  to  his  foreign  birth. 
His  sense  for  the  effects  of  English  prose  style 
is  of  an  unusual  delicacy.  His  diction  is,  as  a 
rule,  conventional  enough,  though  rarely  in 
adequate,  but  in  the  rhy^luiLof  his  easily  glid 
ing  sentences,  often,  though  never  obtrusively, 
balanced,  there  is  genuine  charm. 

Crevecoeur's  French  writings  are  of  no  great 
importance.  The  best  part  of  the  "Lettres  d'un 
Cultivateur  Americain"  consists  of  the  twelve 
letters  of  the  English  work,  which  lose  consider 
ably  in  the  translation.  The  additional  chapters 
are  occupied  with  descriptions  of  the  character 
and  resources  of  the  several  provinces,  and 
yield  only  one  passage — a  picture  of  the  city 
of  New  York  as  it  appeared  in  the  last  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth  century — that  is  of  real  inter 
est  to-day.  The  three  large  volumes  of  the 
"Voyage  Dans  La  Haute  Pennsylvanie"  have, 
as  we  have  seen,  but  slight  literary  value.  They 
deal  to  a  large  extent,  and  quite  fancifully,  with 
the  American  Indian,  and  the  somewhat  dis 
connected 


INTRODUCTION. 

connected  narrative  runs  on  at  great  length. 
The  historian  may  glean  a  suggestion  or  two 
from  the  work;  the  student  of  literature  may 
safely  disregard  it.  It  is  on  the  "Letters  from 
an  American  Farmer"  that  Crevecoeur's  repu 
tation  must  rest,  and  safely,  for  the  book  is  so 
admirable  in  many  ways  that  it  is  likely  to  be 
come  better  known  as  time  goes  on,  and  to  oc 
cupy  a  somewhat  more  conspicuous  place  than 
it  now  does  in  the  history  of  American  litera 
ture  and  life.*  LUDWIG  LEWISOHN. 


*The  accessible  sources  for  Crevecoeur's  biography  are 
very  meagre  and  conflicting.  In  several  details  the  care 
ful  note  given  in  Bigelow's  Franklin,  ix.,  4,  has  been 
followed,  for  example,  with  regard  to  the  date  of  Creve 
coeur's  birth  which  is  generally  put  in  1831.  Use  has  also 
been  made  of  the  articles  in  Duyckinck's  Cyclopcedia  of 
American  Literature  and  in  the  Nouvelle  Biographic  Uni- 
verselle.  A  work  cited  by  Mr.  Bigelow,  St.  John  de  Creve- 
coeur:  sa  vie  et  ses  Ouvrages,  has  unfortunately  not  been 
accessible. 


LETTERS 


FROM       AN 

AMERICAN   FARMER; 

DESCRIBING 

CERTAIN  PROVINCIAL  SITUATIONS, 

MANNERS,  AND  CUSTOMS, 

NOT      GENERALLY      KNOWN; 

AND      CONVEYING 

SOME  IDEA  OF  THE  LATE  AND  PRESENT 
INTERIOR     CIRCUMSTANCES 

OF      THE 

BRITISH     COLONIES 

I  N 

NORTH      AMERICA. 


WRITTEN     FOR    THE    INFORMATION    OF    A    FRIEND 
IN    ENGLAND, 

By  J.  HECTOR    ST.   JOHN, 

A      FARMER      IN      PENNSYLVANIA. 


LONDON, 

PRINTED     FOR     THOMAS    DAVIES    IN    RUSSELL    STREET    COVENT- 

GARUEN,    AND     LOCKYER     DAVIS     IN'     HOLBORN. 

M  DCC  LXXXII. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

[To  the  first  edition,  1782.] 

rHE  following  Letters  are  the  genuine 
production    of   the   American   Farmer 
whose  name  they  bear.     They  were  pri 
vately   written   to   gratify   the  curiosity   of  a 
friend;  and  are  made  public,  because  they  con 
tain  much  authentic  information,  little  known 
on  this  side  the  Atlantic:  they  cannot  therefore 
fail  of  being  highly  interesting  to  the  people  of 
England,  at  a  time  when  every  body's  attention 
is  directed  toward  the  affairs  of  America. 

That  these  letters  are  the  actual  result  of  a 
private  correspondence,  may  fairly  be  inferred 
(exclusive  of  other  evidence)  from  the  stile  and 
manner  in  which  they  are  conceived;  for  though 
plain  and  familiar,  and  sometimes  animated, 
they  are  by  no  means  exempt  from  such  inac 
curacies  as  must  unavoidably  occur  in  the  rapid 
effusions  of  a  confessedly  inexperienced  writer. 

Our 

xxix 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

Our  Farmer  had  long  been  an  eye-witness 
of  transactions  that  have  deformed  the  face  of 
America:  he  is  one  of  those  who  dreaded,  and 
has  severely  felt,  the  desolating  consequences  of 
a  rupture  between  the  parent  state  and  her  colo 
nies:  for  he  has  been  driven  from  a  situation, 
the  enjoyment  of  which,  the  reader  will  find 
pathetically  described  in  the  early  letters  of  this 
volume.  The  unhappy  contest,  is  at  length 
however,  drawing  toward  a  period;  and  it  is 
now  only  left  us  to  hope,  that  the  obvious  in 
terests  and  mutual  wants  of  both  countries,  may 
in  due  time,  and  in  spite  of  all  obstacles,  happily 
re-unite  them. 

Should  our  Farmer's  letters  be  found  to  af 
ford  matter  of  useful  entertainment  to  an  in 
telligent  and  candid  publick,  a  second  volume, 
equally  interesting  with  those  now  published, 
may  soon  be  expected. 


XXX 


TO    THE 


ABBE  RAYNAL,  F.  R.  S, 


BEHOLD,  Sir,  an  humble  American 
Planter,  a  simple  cultivator  of  the 
earth,  addressing  you  from  the  farther 
side  of  the  Atlantic;  and  presuming  to  fix  your 
name  at  the  head  of  his  trifling  lucubrations. 
I  wish  they  were  worthy  of  so  great  an  honour. 
Yet  why  should  not  I  be  permitted  to  disclose 
those  sentiments  which  I  have  so  often  felt 
from  my  heart  ?  A  few  years  since,  I  met  acci 
dentally  with  your  Political  and  Philosophical 
History,  and  perused  it  with  infinite  pleasure. 
For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  reflected  on  the  , 
relative  state  of  nations;  I  traced  the  extended 
ramifications  of  a  commerce  which  ought  to 

unite, 

xxxi 


/ 


DEDICATION. 

unite,  but  now  convulses  the  world;  I  admired 
that  universal  benevolence,  that  diffusive  good 
will,  which  is  not  confined  to  the  narrow  limits 
of  your  own  country;  but  on  the  contrary,  ex 
tends  to  the  whole  human  race.  As  an  eloquent 
and  powerful  advocate,  you  have  pleaded  the 
cause  of  humanity  in  espousing  that  of  the  poor 
Africans:  you  viewed  these  provinces  of  North 
America  in  their  true  light,  as  the  asylum  of 
freedom;  as  the  cradle  of  future  nations,  and 
the  refuge  of  distressed  Europeans.  Why  then 
should  I  refrain  from  loving  and  respecting  a 
man  whose  writings  I  so  much  admire  ?  These 
two  sentiments  are  inseparable,  at  least  in  my 
breast.  I  conceived  your  genius  to  be  present  at 
the  head  of  my  study:  under  its  invisible  but 
powerful  guidance,  I  prosecuted  my  small 
labours:  and  now,  permit  me  to  sanctify  them 
under  the  auspices  of  your  name.  Let  the  sin 
cerity  of  the  motives  which  urge  me,  prevent 
you  from  thinking  that  this  well  meant  address 
contains  aught  but  the  purest  tribute  of  rev 
erence  and  affection.  There  is,  no  doubt,  a 
secret  communion  among  good  men  throughout 
the  world ;  a  mental  affinity  connecting  them  by 
a  similitude  of  sentiments:  then  why,  though 
an  American,  should  not  I  be  permitted  to  share 
in  that  extensive  intellectual  consanguinity? 
Yes,  I  do :  and  though  the  name  of  a  man  who 

possesses 

xxxii 


DEDICATION. 

possesses  neither  titles  nor  places,  who  never 
rose  above  the  humble  rank  of  a  farmer,  may 
appear  insignificant;  yet,  as  the  sentiments  I 
have  expressed,  are  also  the  eccho  of  those  of 
my  countrymen;  on  their  behalf,  as  well  as  on 
my  own,  give  me  leave  to  subscribe  myself, 

Sir, 
Your  very  sincere  admirer, 

J-  HECTOR  ST.  JOHN. 


XXX111 


TABLE 

O  F 

CONTENTS. 


LETTER     I. 

Page 
NTRODUCTION      -       -      -      -       i 


LETTER     II. 

On  the  situation,  feelings,  and  pleasures  of  an 
American  Farmer 22 

LETTER     III. 

What  is  an  American?  48 

LETTER    IV. 

Description  of  the  island  of  Nantucket,  with 
the  manners,  customs,  policy,  and  trade  of 
the  Inhabitants 119 

XXXV 


CONTENTS. 

LETTER    V. 

x  Customary  education  and  employment  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Nantucket  156 

LETTER    VI. 

Description  of  the  island  of  Martha's  Fine- 
yard,  and  of  the  Whale  Fishery  165 

LETTER    VII. 

Manners  and  customs  at  Nantucket     -        183 

LETTER     VIII. 

Peculiar  customs  at  Nantucket      -      -        202 

LETTER    IX. 

Description  of  Charles-Town;  thoughts  on 
slavery;  on  physical  evil;  a  melancholy 
scene  -  -222 

LETTER    X. 

On  snakes;  and  on  the  humming-bird     -      246 

LETTER 


CONTENTS. 

LETTER    XL 

From  Mr.  Iw — n  Al — z,  a  Russian  gentleman, 
describing  the  visit  he  paid,  at  my  request,  to 
Mr.  John  Bertram,  the  celebrated  Pennsyl 
vania  botanist  -  -  -  -  258 

LETTER    XII. 

*  Distresses  of  a  Frontier-man       -       -       281 


Appendix  I. 33  * 


Appendix  II. 349 


Notes 352 


XXXVll 


LETTERS 

FROM    AN 

AMERICAN    FARMER. 

LETTER     I. 
INTRODUCTION. 

WHO  would  have  thought  that  be 
cause  I  received  you  with  hospitality 
and  kindness,  you  should  imagine 
me  capable  of  writing  with  propriety  and  pers 
picuity?  Your  gratitude  misleads  your  judge 
ment.  The  knowledge  which  I  acquired  from 
your  conversation  has  amply  repaid  me  for 
your  five  weeks  entertainment.  I  gave  you 
nothing  more  than  what  common  hospitality 
dictated;  but  could  any  other  guest  have  in 
structed  me  as  you  did  ?  You  conducted  me,  on 
the  map,  from  one  European  country  to  an 
other;  told  me  many  extraordinary  things  of 
our  famed  mother-country,  of  which  I  knew 
very  little;  of  its  internal  navigation,  agricul 
ture,  arts,  manufactures,  and  trade:  you  guided 

me 


2        INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

me  through  an  extensive  maze,  and  I  abun 
dantly  profited  by  the  journey;  the  contrast 
therefore  proves  the  debt  of  gratitude  to  be  on 
my  side.  The  treatment  you  received  at  my 
house  proceeded  from  the  warmth  of  my  heart, 
and  from  the  corresponding  sensibility  of  my 
wife;  what  you  now  desire,  must  flow  from  a 
very  limited  power  of  mind:  the  task  requires 
recollection,  and  a  variety  of  talents  which  I  do 
not  possess.  It  is  true  I  can  describe  our  Amer 
ican  modes  of  farming,  our  manners,  and  pe 
culiar  customs,  with  some  degree  of  propriety, 
because  I  have  ever  attentively  studied  them; 
but  my  knowledge  extends  no  farther.  And  is 
this  local  and  unadorned  information  sufficient 
to  answer  all  your  expectations,  and  to  satisfy 
your  curiosity?  I  am  surprised  that  in  the 
course  of  your  American  travels,  you  should  not 
have  found  out  persons  more  enlightened  and 
better  educated  than  I  am ;  your  predilection  ex 
cites  my  wonder  much  more  than  my  vanity; 
my  share  of  the  latter  being  confined  merely  to 
the  neatness  of  my  rural  operations. 

My  father  left  me  a  few  musty  books,  which 
his  father  brought  from  England  with  him; 
but  what  help  can  I  draw  from  a  library  con 
sisting  mostly  of  Scotch  Divinity,  the  Naviga 
tion  of  Sir  Francis  Drake,  the  History  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  and  a  few  miscellaneous  volumes? 

Our 


INTRODUCTORY    LETTER.        3 

Our  Minister  often  comes  to  see  me,  though 
he  lives  upwards  of  twenty  miles  distant. 
I  have  shewn  him  your  letter,  asked  his  advice, 
and  solicited  his  assistance;  he  tells  me,  that  he 
hath  no  time  to  spare,  for  that  like  the  rest  of  us 
must  till  his  farm,  and  is  moreover  to  study 
what  he  is  to  say  on  the  sabbath.  My  wife, 
(and  I  never  do  any  thing  without  consulting 
her)  laughs,  and  tells  me,  that  you  cannot  be  in 
earnest.  What !  says  she,  James,  wouldst  thee 
pretend  to  send  epistles  to  a  great  European 
man,  who  hath  lived  abundance  of  time  in  that 
big  house  called  Cambridge;  where,  they  say, 
that  worldly  learning  is  so  abundant,  that  peo 
ple  gets  it  onlybybreathing  the  air  of  the  place? 
Wouldst  not  thee  be  ashamed  to  write  unto  a 
man  who  has  never  in  his  life  done  a  single  day's 
work,  no,  not  even  felled  a  tree;  who  hath 
expended  the  Lord  knows  how  many  years  in 
studying  stars,  geometry,  stones,  and  flies,  and 
in  reading  folio  books?  Who  hath  travelled, 
as  he  told  us,  to  the  city  of  Rome  itself!  Only 
think  of  a  London  man  going  to  Rome !  Where 
is  it  that  these  English  folks  won't  go?  One 
who  hath  seen  the  factory  of  brimstone  at  Su- 
vius,  and  town  of  Pompey  under  ground! 
wouldst  thou  pretend  to  letter  it  with  a  person 
who  hath  been  to  Paris,  to  the  Alps,  to  Peters- 
burgh,  and  who  hath  seen  so  many  fine  things 

up 


4        INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

up  and  down  the  old  countries ;  who  hath  come 
over  the  great  sea  unto  us,  and  hath  journeyed 
from  our  New  Hampshire  in  the  East  to 
our  Charles  Town  in  the  South;  who  hath 
visited  all  our  great  cities,  knows  most  of  our 
famous  lawyers  and  cunning  folks;  who  hath 
conversed  with  very  many  king's  men,  gover 
nors,  and  counsellors,  and  yet  pitches  upon  thee 
for  his  correspondent,  as  thee  calls  it?  surely 
he  means  to  jeer  thee !  I  am  sure  he  does,  he 
cannot  be  in  a  real  fair  earnest.  James,  thee 
must  read  this  letter  over  again,  paragraph  by 
paragraph,  and  warily  observe  whether  thee 
can'st  perceive  some  words  of  jesting;  some 
thing  that  hath  more  than  one  meaning:  and 
now  I  think  on  it,  husband,  I  wish  thee  wouldst 
let  me  see  his  letter;  though  I  am  but  a  woman, 
as  thee  mayest  say,  yet  I  understand  the  purport 
of  words  in  good  measure,  for  when  I  was 
a  girl,  father  sent  us  to  the  very  best  master 
in  the  precinct. — She  then  read  it  herself  very 
attentively:  our  minister  was  present,  we  lis 
tened  to,  and  weighed  every  syllable:  we  all 
unanimously  concluded  that  you  must  have  been 
in  a  sober  earnest  intention,  as  my  wife  calls  it; 
and  your  request  appeared  to  be  candid  and 
sincere.  Then  again,  on  recollecting  the  differ 
ence  between  your  sphere  of  life  and  mine,  a 
new  fit  of  astonishment  seized  us  all ! 

Our 


INTRODUCTORY    LETTER.        5 

Our  minister  took  the  letter  from  my  wife, 
and  read  it  to  himself;  he  made  us  observe  the 
two  last  phrases,  and  we  weighed  the  contents 
to  the  best  of  our  abilities.  The  conclusion  we  , 

all  drew,  made  me  resolve  at  last  to  write. 

You  say  you  want  nothing  of  me  but  what  lies 
within  the  reach  of  my  experience  and  knowl 
edge  ;  this  I  understand  very  well ;  the  difficulty 
is,  how  to  collect,  digest,  and  arrange  what  I 
I  know  ?  Next  you  assert,  that  writing  letters  is 
nothing  more  than  talking  on  paper;  which,  I 
must  confess,  appeared  to  me  quite  a  new 
thought. — Well  then,  observed  our  minister, 
neighbour  James,  as  you  can  talk  well,  I  am 
sure  you  must  write  tolerably  well  also; 
imagine,  then,  that  Mr.  F.  B.  is  still  here,  and 
simply  write  down  what  you  would  say  to  him. 
Suppose  the  questions  he  will  put  to  you  in  his 
future  letters  to  be  asked  by  him  viva  voce,  as 
we  used  to  call  it  at  the  college ;  then  let  your 
answers  be  conceived  and  expressed  exactly  in 
the  same  language  as  if  he  was  present.  This 
is  all  that  he  requires  from  you,  and  I  am  sure 
the  task  is  not  difficult.  He  is  your  friend :  who 
would  be  ashamed  to  write  to  such  a  person? 
Although  he  is  a  man  of  learning  and  taste, 
yet  I  am  sure  he  will  read  your  letters  with  / 
pleasure:  if  they  be  not  elegant,  they  will  smell'/ 
of  the  woods,  and  be  a  little  wild ;  I  know  your 

turn, 


6        INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

turn,  they  will  contain  some  matters  which  he 
never  knew  before.  Some  people  are  so  fond 
of  novelty,  that  they  will  overlook  many 
errors  of  language  for  the  sake  of  information. 
We  are  all  apt  to  love  and  admire  exotics,  tho' 
they  may  be  often  inferior  to  what  we  possess; 
and  that  is  the  reason  I  imagine  why  so  many 
persons  are  continually  going  to  visit  Italy. — 
That  country  is  the  daily  resort  of  modern 
travellers. 

James.  I  should  like  to  know  what  is  there 
to  be  seen  so  goodly  and  profitable,  that  so 
many  should  wish  to  visit  no  other  country? 

Minister.  I  do  not  very  well  know.  I 
fancy  their  object  is  to  trace  the  vestiges  of  a 
once  flourishing  people  now  extinct.  There 
they  amuse  themselves  in  viewing  the  ruins  of 
temples  and  other  buildings  which  have  very 
little  affinity  with  those  of  the  present  age,  and 
must  therefore  impart  a  knowledge  which  ap 
pears  useless  and  trifling.  I  have  often  won 
dered  that  no  skilful  botanists  or  learned  men 
should  come  over  here;  methinks  there  would 
be  much  more  real  satisfaction  in  observing 
among  us,  the  humble  rudiments  and  embryos 
of  societies  spreading  every  where,  the  recent 
foundation  of  our  towns,  and  the  settlements 
of  so  many  rural  districts.  I  am  sure  that 
»the  rapidity  of  their  growth  would  be  more 

pleasing 


INTRODUCTORY    LETTER.       ;j 

pleasing  to  behold,  than  the  ruins  of  old 
towers,  useless  acqueducts,  or  impending  battle 
ments. 

James.  What  you  say,  Minister,  seems  very 
true:  do  go  on:  I  always  love  to  hear  you 
talk. 

Minister.  Don't  you  think  neighbour  James, 
that  the  mind  of  a  good  _and -enlightened  En 
glishman  would  be  more  improved  in  remark 
ing  throughout  these  provinces  the  causes  which 
render  so  many  people  haj3|)y_?  In  delineating 
the  unnoticed  means  by  which  we  daily  increase 
the  extent  of  our  settlements?  How  we  convert 
huge  forests  into  pleasing  fields,  and  exhibit 
through  these  thirteen  provinces  so  singular  a 
display  of  easy  subsistence  and  political  felicity. 

In  Italy  all  the  objects  of  contemplation,  all 
the  reveries  of  the  traveller,  must  have  a  refer 
ence  to  ancient  generations,  and  to  very  disteujt 
periods,  clouded  with  the  mist  of  ages.— fHere, 
on  the  contraiy,every  thing  is  modernjj2£aee- 
f  uj^  and  Jignig^  Here  ^vr4mve^iad  no  war  J 
to  desolate  our  fields^jo«f--iieiigiQ|i_does  not 
oppress  the  cultivators:  we  are  strangers  to 
those  feudal  institutions  which  have  en 
slaved  so  many.  Here  nature  opens  her  broad 

lap 

*  The  troubles,  that  now  convulse  the  American  colo 
nies,  had  not  broke  out  when  this,  and  some  of  the  fol 
lowing  letters  were  written. 


8        INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

lap  to  receive  the  perpetual  accession  of  new 
comersuapdLto  supply  thfinLJEJtlOood.  I  am 
sure  I  cannot  be  called  a  partial  American  when 
I  say,  that  the  spectacle  afforded  by  these 
pleasing  scenes  must  be  more  entertaining,  and 
more  philosophical  than  that  which  arises  from 

'  ^ beholding  the  musty  ruins  of  Rome.     Here 

every  thing  would  inspire  the  reflecting  travel 
ler  with  the  most  philanthropic  ideas;  his  ima 
gination,  instead  of  submitting  to  the  painful 
and  useless  retrospect  of  revolutions,  desola 
tions,  and  plagues,  would,  on  the  contrary, 
wisely  spring  forward  to  the  anticipated  fields 
of  future  cultivation  ahct  trnpiwement  to  the 
future  extent  of  those  generations^whicff  are  to 
reptemsrF~and"einbellislr-^ttS" boundless  con 
tinent.  ~TKere  the  half-ruined  amphitheatres, 
and  the  putrid  fevers  of  the  Campania,  must  fill 
the  mind  with  the  most  melancholy  reflections, 
whilst  he  is  seeking  for  the  origin,  and  the  in 
tention  of  those  structures  with  which  he  is  sur 
rounded,  and  for  the  cause  of  so^gceat  a  decay. 
Here  he  might  contemplate  the  ^ry  beginnings 
and-Quklingsjjf  human  society,  whidfcan  be 
traced  no  where  nowTmt  in  this  part  of  the 
world.  The  rest  of  the  earth,  I  am  told,  is  in 
some  places  too  full,  in  others  half  depopu 
lated.  Misguided  religion,  tyranny,  and  ab 
surd  laws,  every  where  depress  and  afflict  man 
kind. 


INTRODUCTORY    LETTER.        9 

kind.  Here  we  have  in  some  measure  regained 
the  ancient  dignity  of  our  species;  our  laws  are 
simple  and  just,  we  are  a  race  of  cultivators,  our 
cultivation  is  unrestrained,  and  therefore  every 
thing  is  prosperous  and  flourishing.  For  my 
part  I  had  rather  admire  the  ample  barn  of  one 
of  our  opulent  farmers,  who  himself  felled  the 
first  tree  in  his  plantation,  and  was  the  first 
founder  of  his  settlement,  than  study  the  di 
mensions  of  the  temple  of  Ceres.  I  had  rather 
record  the  progressive  steps  of  this  industrious 
farmer,  throughout  all  the  stages  of  his  labours 
and  other  operations,  than  examine  how  mod 
ern  Italian  convents  can  be  supported  without 
doing  any  thing  but  singing  and  praying. 

However  confined  the  field  of  speculation 
might  be  here,  the  time  of  English  travellers 
would  not  be  wholly  lost.  The  new  and  unex 
pected  aspect  of  our  extensive  settlements;  of 
our  fine  rivers;  that  great  field  of  action  every 
where  visible ;  that  ease,  that  peace  with  which 
so  many  people  live  together,  would  greatly 
interest  the  observer:  for  whatever  difficulties 
there  might  happen  in  the  object  of  their  re 
searches,  that  hospitality  which  prevails  from 
one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other,  would  in 
all  parts  facilitate  their  excursions.  As  it  is  ? 
from  the  surface  of  the  ground  which  we  till, 
that  we  have  gathered  the  wealth  we  possess, 

the, 


io      INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

the  surface  of  that  ground  is  therefore  the  only 
thing  that  has  hitherto  been  known.  It  will 
require  the  industry  of  subsequent  ages,  the 
energy  of  future  generations,  ere  mankind  here 
will  have  leisure  and  abilities  to  penetrate  deep, 
and,  in  the  bowels  of  this  continent,  search  for 
the  subterranean  riches  it  no  doubt  contains. 
— Neighbour  James,  we  want  much  the 
/  assistance  of  men  of  leisure  and  knowledge, 
v.  we  want  eminent  chemists  to  inform  our  iron 
masters;  to  teach  us  how  to  make  and  prepare 
most  of  the  colours  we  use.  Here  we  have  none 
5  equal  to  this  task.  If  any  useful  discoveries  are 
therefore  made  among  us,  they  are  the  effects 
of  chance,  or  else  arise  from  that  restless  in 
dustry  which  is  the  principal  characteristic  of 
these  colonies. 

James.  Oh !  could  I  express  myself  as  you  do, 
my  friend,  I  should  not  balance  a  single  instant, 
I  should  rather  be  anxious  to  commence  a  cor 
respondence  which  would  do  me  credit. 

Minister.  You  can  write  full  as  well  as  you 
need,  and  will  improve  very  fast;  trust  to  my 
prophecy,  your  letters,  at  least,  will  have  the 
merit  of  coming  from  the  edge  of  the  great 
wilderness,  three  hundred  miles  from  the  sea, 
and  three  thousand  miles  over  that  sea :  this  will 
be  no  detriment  to  them,  take  my  word  for  it. 
You  intend  one  of  your  children  for  the  gown, 

who 


INTRODUCTORY   LETTER.      n 

who  knows  but  Mr.  F.  B.  may  give  you  some 
assistance  when  the  lad  comes  to  have  concerns 
with  the  bishop;  it  is  good  for  American 
farmers  to  have  friends  even  in  England.  What 
he  requires  of  you  is  but  simple — what  we  ; 
speak  out  among  ourselves,  we  call  conversa 
tion,  and  a  letter  is  only  conversation  put  down 
in  black  and  white. 

James.  You  quite  persuade  me — if  he 
laughs  at  my  aukwardness,  surely  he  will  be 
pleased  with  my  ready  compliance.  On  my 
part,  it  will  be  well  meant  let  the  execution  be 
what  it  may.  I  will  write  enough,  and  so  let 
him  have  the  trouble  of  sifting  the  good  from 
the  bad,  the  useful  from  the  trifling;  let  him 
select  what  he  may  want,  and  reject  what  may 
not  answer  his  purpose.  After  all,  it  is  but 
treating  Mr.  F.  B.  now  that  he  is  in  London, 
as  I  treated  him  when  he  was  in  America  under 
this  roof;  that  is  with  the  best  things  I  had; 
given  with  a  good  intention ;  and  the  best  man 
ner  I  was  able.  Very  different,  James,  very 
different  indeed,  said  my  wife,  I  like  not  thy 
comparison;  our  small  house  and  cellar,  our 
orchard  and  garden  afforded  what  he  wanted; 
one  half  of  his  time  Mr.  F.  B.  poor  man,  lived 
upon  nothing  but  fruit-pies,  or  peaches  and 
milk.  Now  these  things  were  such  as  God  had 
given  us,  myself  and  wench  did  the  rest;  we 

were 


12      INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

were  not  the  creators  of  these  victuals,  we  only 
cooked  them  as  well  and  as  neat  as  we  could. 
The  first  thing,  James,  is  to  know  what  sort  of 
materials  thee  hast  within  thy  own  self,  and 
then  whether  thee  canst  dish  them  up. — Well, 
well,  wife,  thee  art  wrong  for  once;  if  I  was 
filled  with  worldly  vanity,  thy  rebuke  would  be 
timely,  but  thee  knowest  that  I  have  but  little 
of  that.  How  shall  I  know  what  I  am  capable 
of  till  I  try?  Hadst  thee  never  employed  thy-^ 
self  in  thy  father's  house  to  learn  and  to  prac 
tice  the  many  branches  of  house-keeping  that 
thy  parents  were  famous  for,  thee  wouldst  have 
made  but  a  sorry  wife  for  an  American  farmer; 
thee  never  shouldst  have  been  mine.  I  mar 
ried  thee  not  for  what  thee  hadst,  but  for  what 
thee  knewest;  doest  not  thee  observe  what  Mr. 
F.  B.  says  beside;  he  tells  me,  that  the  art  of 
writing  is  just  like  unto  every  other  art  of  man ; 
that  it  is  acquired  byhabit,and  by  perseverance. 
That  is  singularly  true,  said  our  Minister,  he 
that  shall  write  a  letter  every  day  of  the  week, 
will  on  Saturday  perceive  the  sixth  flowing  from 
his  pen  much  more  readily  than  the  first.  I  ob 
served  when  I  first  entered  into  the  ministry  and 
began  to  preach  the  word,  I  felt  perplexed  and 
dry,  my  mind  was  like  unto  a  parched  soil, 
which  produced  nothing,  not  even  weeds.  By 
the  blessing  of  heaven,  and  my  perseverance  in 

study 


INTRODUCTORY    LETTER.       13 

study,  I  grew  richer  in  thoughts,  phrases,  and 
words ;  I  felt  copious,  and  now  I  can  abundant 
ly  preach  from  any  text  that  occurs  to  my  mind. 
So  will  it  be  with  you,  neighbour  James;  begin 
therefore  without  delay;  and  Mr.  F.  B.'s  let 
ters  may  be  of  great  service  to  you :  he  will,  no 
doubt,  inform  you  of  many  things:  correspon 
dence  consists  in  reciprocal  letters.  Leave  off 
your  diffidence,  and  I  will  do  my  best  to  help 
you  whenever  I  have  any  leisure.  Well  then, 
I  am  resolved,  I  said,  to  follow  your  counsel; 
my  letters  shall  not  be  sent,  nor  will  I  receive 
any,  without  reading  them  to  you  and  my  wife; 
women  are  curious,  they  love  to  know  their  hus 
band's  secrets;  it  will  not  be  the  first  thing 
which  I  have  submitted  to  your  joint  opinions. 
Whenever  you  come  to  dine  with  us,  these  shall 
be  the  last  dish  on  the  table.  Nor  will  they  be 
the  most  unpalatable  answered  the  good  man. 
Nature f  hath  given  you  a  tolerable  share  of 
sense,  and  that  is  one  of  her  best  gifts  let  me 
tell  you.  She  has  given  you  besides  some  per 
spicuity,  which  qualifies  you  to  distinguish  inter 
esting  objects;  a  warmth  of  imagination  which 
enables  you  to  think  with  quickness;  you  often 
extract  useful  reflections  from  objects  which 
presented  none  to  my  mind :  you  have  a  tender 
and  a  well  meaning  heart,  you  love  description, 
and  your  pencil,  assure  yourself,  is  not  a  bad 

one 


i4      INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

one  for  the  pencil  of  a  farmer;  it  seems  to  be 
held  without  any  labour;  yooif-fftkuiJs  what  we 
I  called  at  Yale  college  a^  Tabula  rasa,  where 
\  spontaneous  and  strong  impressions  are  de 
lineated  with  facility.  Ah,  neighbour !  had  you 
received  but  half  the  education  of  Mr.  F.  B. 
you  had  been  a  worthy  correspondent  indeed. 
But  perhaps  you  will  be  a  more  entertaining 
one  dressed  in  your  simple  American  garb,  than 
if  you  were  clad  in  all  the  gowns  of  Cambridge. 
You  will  appear  to  him  something  like  one  of 
our  wild  American  plants,  irregularly  luxuriant 
in  its  various  branches,  which  an  European 
scholar  may  probably  think  ill  placed  and  use 
less.  If  our  soil  is  not  remarkable  as  yet  for  the 
excellence  of  its  fruits,  this  exuberance  is  how 
ever  a  strong  proof  of  fertility,  which  wants 
nothing  but  the  progressive  knowledge  acquired 
by  time  to  amend  and  to  correct.  It  is  easier  to 
retrench  than  it  is  to  add;  I  do  not  mean  to 
flatter  you,  neighbour  James,  adulation  would 
ill  become  my  character,  you  may  therefore  be 
lieve  what  your  pastor  says.  Were  I  in  Europe 
I  should  be  tired  with  perpetually  seeing  espa 
liers,  plashed  hedges,  and  trees  dwarfed  into 
pigmies.  Do  let  Mr.  F.  B.  see  on  paper  a  few 
American  wild  cherry  trees,  such  as  nature 
forms  them  here,  in  all  her  unconfined  vigour, 
in  all  the  amplitude  of  their  extended  limbs  and 

spreading 


INTRODUCTORY    LETTER.       15 

spreading  ramifications — let  him  see  that  we 
are  possessed  with  strong  vegitative  embryos. 
After  all,  why  should  not  a  farmer  be  allowed 
to  make  use  of  his  mental  faculties  as  well  as 
others ;  because  a  man  works,  is  not  he  to  think, 
and  if  he  thinks  usefully,  why  should  not  he  in 
his  leisure  hours  set  down  his  thoughts  ?  I  have 
composed  many  a  good  sermon  as  I  followed 
my  plough.  The  eyes  not  being  then  engaged 
on  any  particular  object,  leaves  the  mind  free 
for  the  introduction  of  many  useful  ideas.  It 
is  not  in  the  noisy  shop  oT a  blacksmith  or  of  a 
carpenter,  that  these  studious  moments  can  be 
enjoyed;  it  is  as  we  silently  till  the  ground,  and 
muse  along  the  odoriferous  furrows  of  our  low 
lands,  uninterrupted  either  by  stones  or  stumps; 
it  is  there  that  the  salubrious  effluvia  of  the 
earth  animate  our  spirits  and  serve  to  inspire 
us;  every  other  avocation  of  our  farms  are 
severe  labours  compared  to  this  pleasing  occu 
pation:  of  all  the  tasks  which  mine  imposes  on 
me  ploughing  is  the  most  agreeable,  because  I 
can  think  as  I  work;  my  mind  is  at  leisure;  my 
labour  flows  from  instinct,  as  well  as  that  of  my 
horses;  there  is  no  kind  of  difference  between 
us  in  our  different  shares  of  that  operation;  one 
of  them  keeps  the  furrow,  the  other  avoids  it; 
at  the  end  of  my  field  they  turn  either  to  the 
right  or  left  as  they  are  bid,  whilst  I  thought 
lessly 


1 6      INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

lessly  hold  and  guide  the  plough  to  which  they 
are  harnessed.  Do  therefore,  neighbour,  be 
gin  this  correspondence,  and  persevere,  difficul 
ties  will  vanish  in  proportion  as  you  draw  near 
them ;  you'll  be  surprised  at  yourself  by  and  by : 
when  you  come  to  look  back  you'll  say  as  I  have 
often  said  to  myself;  had  I  been  diffident  I  had 
never  proceeded  thus  far.  Would  you  pain 
fully  till  your  stony  up-land  and  neglect  the  fine 
rich  bottom  which  lies  before  your  door?  Had 
you  never  tried,  you  never  had  learned  how  to 
mend  and  make  your  ploughs.  It  will  be  no 
small  pleasure  to  your  children  to  tell  hereafter, 
that  their  father  was  not  only  one  of  the  most 
industrious  farmers  in  the  country,  but  one  of 
the  best  writers.  When  you  have  once  begun, 
do  as  when  you  begin  breaking  up  your  sum 
mer  fallow,  you  never  consider  what  remains  to 
be  done,  you  view  only  what  you  have 
ploughed.  Therefore,  neighbour  James,  take 
my  advice ;  it  will  go  well  with  you,  I  am  sure 

it  will. And  do  you  really  think  so  Sir? 

Your  counsel,  which  I  have  long  folowed, 
weighs  much  with  me,  I  verily  believe  that  I 

must  write  to  Mr.  F.  B.  by  the  first  vessel. 

If  thee  persistest  in  being  such  a  fool  hardy 
man,  said  my  wife,  for  God's  sake  let  it  be  kept 
a  profound  secret  among  us;  if  it  were  once 
known  abroad  that  thee  writest  to  a  great  and 

rich 


INTRODUCTORY    LETTER.      17 

rich  man  over  at  London,  there  would  be  no 
end  of  the  talk  of  the  people;  some  would 
vow  that  thee  art  going  to  turn  an  author, 
others  would  pretend  to  foresee  some  great 
alterations  in  the  welfare  of  thy  family;  some 
would  say  this,  some  would  say  that:  Who 
would  wish  to  become  the  subject  of  public 
talk?  Weigh  this  matter  well  before  thee  be- 
ginnest,  James — consider  that  a  great  deal  of 
thy  time,  and  of  thy  reputation  is  at  stake  as  I 
may  say.  Wert  thee  to  write  as  well  as  friend 
Edmund,  whose  speeches  I  often  see  in  our  pa 
pers,  it  would  be  the  very  self  same  thing ;  thee 
wouldst  be  equally  accused  of  idleness,  and  vain 
notions  not  befitting  thy  condition.  Our  colo 
nel  would  be  often  coming  here  to  know  what 
it  is  that  thee  canst  write  so  much  about.  Some 
would  imagine  that  thee  wantest  to  become 
either  an  assembly-man  or  a  magistrate,  which 
God  forbid ;  and  that  thee  art  telling  the  king's 
men  abundance  of  things.  Instead  of  being 
well  looked  upon  as  now,  and  living  in  peace 
with  all  the  world,  our  neighbours  would  be 
making  strange  surmises :  I  had  rather  be  as  we 
are,  neither  better  nor  worse  than  the  rest  of 
our  country  folks.  Thee  knowest  what  I  mean, 
though  I  should  be  sorry  to  deprive  thee  of  any 
honest  recreation.  Therefore  as  I  have  said  be 
fore,  let  it  be  as  great  a  secret  as  if  it  was  some 

heinous 


1 8      INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

/  heinous  crime ;  the  minister,  I  am  sure,  wiM  not 
^  *\  /  divulge  it;  as  for  my  part,  though  I  am  a 
woman,  yet  I  know  what  it  is  to  be  a  wife. — I 
would  not  have  thee  James  pass  for  what  the 
world  calleth  a  writer;  no,  not  for  a  peck  of 
gold,  as  the  saying  is.  Thy  father  before  thee 
was  a  plain  dealing  honest  man,  punctual  in  all 
things;  he  was  one  of  yea  and  nay,  of  few 
words,  all  he  minded  was  his  farm  and  his 
work.  I  wonderj^ona^whence  thee  hast  got  this 
love ^ef^rle  pen?  Had  he  spent  his  time  in 
sending  epistles  to  and  fro,  he  never  would 
have  left  thee  this  goodly  plantation,  ^ree  from 
debt.  All  I  say  is  in  goocTmeaning ;  great  peo 
ple  over  seaTmay  write  to  our  town's  folks,  be 
cause  they  have  nothing  else  to  do.  These  Eng 
lishmen  are  strange  people;  because  they  can 
live  upon  what  they  call  bank  notes,  without 
working,  they  think  that  all  the  world  can  do 
the  same.  This  goodly  country  never  would 
have  been  tilled  and  cleared  with  these  notes. 
I  am  sure  when  Mr.  F.  B.  was  here,  he  saw  thee 
sweat  and  take  abundance  of  pains;  he  often 
told  me  how  the  Americans  worked  a  great 
deal  harder  than  the  home  Englishmen;  for 
there  he  told  us,  that  they  have  no  trees  to  cut 
down,  no  fences  to  make,  no  negroes  to  buy  and 
to  clothe :  and  now  I  think  on  it,  when  wilt  thee 
send  him  those  trees  he  bespoke?  But  if  they 

have 


INTRODUCTORY    LETTER.      19 

have  no  trees  to  cut  down,  they  have  gold  in 
abundance,  they  say ;  for  they  rake  it  and  scrape 
it  from  all  parts  far  and  near.  I  have  often 
heard  my  grandfather  tell  how  they  live  there 
by  writing.  By  writing  they  send  this  cargo 
unto  us,  that  to  the  West,  and  the  other  to  the 
East  Indies.  But,  James,  thee  knowest  that  it 
is  not  by  writing  that  we  shall  pay  the  black 
smith,  the  minister,  the  weaver,  the  tailor,  and 
the  English  shop.  But  as  thee  art  an  early 
man  follow  thine  own  inclinations ;  thee  wantest 
some  rest,  I  am  sure,  and  why  should'st  thee 
not  employ  it  as  it  may  seem  meet  unto  thee. — 
However  let  it  be  a  great  secret;  how  wouldst 
thee  bear  to  be  called  at  our  country  meetings, 
the  man  of  the  pen?  If  this  scheme  of  thine 
was  once  known,  travellers  as  they  go  along 
would  point  out  to  our  house,  saying,  here 
liveth  the  scribbling  farmer:  better  hear  them 
as  usual  observe,  here  liveth  the  warm  sub 
stantial  family,  that  never  begrudgeth  a  meal 
of  victuals,  or  a  mess  of  oats,  to  any  one  that 
steps  in.  Look  how  fat  and  well  clad  their 
negroes  are. 

Thus,  Sir,  have  I  given  you  an  unaffected 
and  candid  detail  of  the  conversation  which  de 
termined  me  to  accept  of  your  invitation.  I 
thought  it  necessary  thus  to  begin,  and  to  let 
you  into  these  primary  secrets,  to  the  end  that 

you 


20      INTRODUCTORY    LETTER. 

you  may  not  hereafter  reproach  me  with  any 
degree  of  presumption.  You'll  plainly  see  the 
motives  which  have  induced  me  to  begin,  the 
fears  which  I  have  entertained,  and  the  prin 
ciples  on  which  my  diffidence  hath  been  found 
ed.  I  have  now  nothing  to  do  but  to  prosecute 
my  task — Remember  you  are  to  .give  me  my 
subjects,  and  on  no  other  shall  I  write,  lest  you 
should  blame  me  for  an  injudicious  choice — 
However  incorrect  my  stile,  however  unexpert 
my  methods,  however  trifling  my  observations 
may  hereafter  appear  to  you,  assure  yourself 
they  will  all  be  the  genuine  dictates  of  my 
mind,  and  I  hope  will  prove  acceptable  on  that 
account.  Remember  that  you  have  laid  the 
foundation  of  this  correspondence;  you  well 
know  that  I  am  neither  a  philosopher,  politi 
cian,  divine,  nor  naturalist,  but  j,  simple  farmer. 
I  flatter  myself,  therefore,  that  you'll  receive 
my  letters  as  conceived,  not  according  to 
scientific  rules  to  which  I  am  a  perfect  stranger, 
but  agreeable  to  the  spontaneous  impressions 
which  each  subject  may  inspire.  This  is  the 
only  line  I  am^He  to  follow,  the  line  which 
nature  has  herself  traced  for  me;  this  was  the 
covenant  which  I  made  with  you,  and  with 
which  you1  seemed  to  be  well  pleased.  Had  you 
wanted  the  stile  of  the  learned,  the  reflections 
of  the  patriot,  the  discussions  of  the  politician, 

the 


INTRODUCTORY    LETTER.      21 

the  curious  observations  of  the  naturalist,  the 
pleasing  garb  of  the  man  of  taste,  surely  you 
would  have  applied  to  some  of  those  men  of 
letters  with  which  our  cities  abound.  But  since 
on  the  contrary,  and  for  what  reason  I  know 
not,  you  wish  to  correspond  with  a  cultivator  of 
the  earth,  with  a  simple  citizen,  you  must  re 
ceive  my  letters  for  better  or  worse. 


LETTTER 


22          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 


LETTER    II. 

ON  THE    SITUATION,    FEELINGS,    AND    PLEAS 
URES,  OF  AN  AMERICAN  FARMER. 

AS  you  are  the  first  enlightened  Euro 
pean  I  have  ever  had  the  pleasure  of 
being  acquainted  with,  you  will  not 
be  surprised  that  I  should,  according  to  your 
earnest  desire  and  my  promise,  appear  anxious 
of  preserving  your  friendship  and  correspond 
ence.  By  your  accounts,  I  observe  a  material 
difference  subsists  between  your  husbandry, 
modes,  and  customs,  and  ours ;  every  thing  is 
4  local;  could  we  enjoy  the  advantages  of  the 
^English  farmer,  we  should  be  much  happier, 
indeed,  but  this  wish,  like  many  others,  im 
plies  a  contradiction;  and  could  the  English 
farmer  have  some  of  those  privileges  we  pos 
sess,  they  would  be  the  first  of  their  class  in  the 
world.  Good  and  evil  I  see  is  to  be  found  in 
all  societies,  and  it  is  in  vain  to  seek  for  any  spot 
where  those  ingredients  are  not  mixed.  I  there 
fore  rest  satisfied,  and  thank  God  that  my  lot  is 
to  be  an  American  farmer,  instead  of  a  Russian 
boor,  or  an  Hungarian  peasant.  I  thank  you 
kindly  for  the  idea,  however  dreadful,  which 

you 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  23 

you  have  given  me  of  their  lot  and  condition; 
your  observations  have  confirmed  me  in  the 
justness  of  my  ideas,  and  I  am  happier  now 
than  I  thought  myself  before.  It  is  strange  that 
misery,  when  viewed  in  others,  should  become 
to  us  a  sort  ©f  real  good,  though  I  am  far  from 
rejoicing  to  hear  that  there  are  in  the  world  men 
so  thoroughly  wretched;  they  are  no  doubt  as 
harmless,  industrious,  and  willing  to  work  as  we 
are.  Hard  is  their  fate  to  be  thus  condemned 
to  a  slavery  worse  than  that  of  our  negroes.  Yet 
when  young  I  entertained  some  thoughts  of 
selling  my  farm.  I  thought  it  afforded  but  a 
dull  repetition  of  the  same  labours  and  pleas 
ures.  I  thought  the  former  tedious  and  heavy, 
the  latter  few  and  insipid;  but  when  I  came  to 
consider  myself  as  divested  of  my  farm,  I  then 
found  the  world  so  wide,  and  every  place  so 
full,  that  I  began  to  fear  lest  there  would  be  no 
room  for  me.  My  farm,  my  house,  my  barn, 
presented  to  my  imagination,  objects  from 
which  I  adduced  quite  new  ideas;  they  were 
more  forcible  than  before.  Why  should  not  I 
find  myself  happy,  said  I,  where  my  father  was 
before?  He  left  me  no  good  books  it  is  true, 
he  gave  me  no  other  education  than  the  art  of 
reading  and  writing;  but  he  left  me  a  good 
farm,  and  his  experience ;  heLkft  me  free  from 
debts,  and  no  kind  of  difficulties  to  struggle 

with 


24          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 


-I  married,  and  this  perfectly  reconciled 
me  to  my  situation;  my  wife  rendered  my  house 
all  at  once  chearful  and  pleasing;  it  no  longer 
appeared  gloomy  and  solitary  as  before;  when 
I  went  to  work  in  my  fields  I  worked  with  more 
alacrity  and  sprightliness  ;  I  felt  that  I  did  not 
work  for  myself  alone,  and  this  encouraged  me 
much.  My  wife  would  often  come  with  her 
kitting  in  her  hand,  and  sit  under  the  shady 
trees,  praising  the  straightness  of  my  furrows, 
and  the  docility  of  my  horses;  this  swelled  my 
heart  and  made  every  thing  light  and  pleasant, 
and  I  regretted  that  I  had  not  married  before. 
I  felt  myself  happy  in  my  new  situation,  and 
where  is  that  station  which  can  confer  a  more 
substantial  system  of  felicity  than  that  of  an 
American  farmer,  possessing  freedom  of  action, 
freedom  of  thoughts,  ruled  by  a  mode  of  gov 
ernment  which  requires  but  little  from  us?  I 
owe  nothing,  but  a  pepper  corn  to  my-  country, 
a  small  tribute  to  my  king,  with  loyalty  and  due 
respect;  I  know  no  other  landlord  than  the  lord 
of  all  land,  to  whom  I  owe  the  most  sincere 
gratitude.  My  father  left  me  three  hundred 
and  seventy-one  acres  of  land,  forty-seven  of 
which  are  go'od  timothy  meadow,  an  excellent 
orchard,  a  good  house,  and  a  substantial  barn. 
It  is  my  duty  to  think  how  happy  I  am  that  he 
lived  to  build  and  to  pay  for  all  these  improve 

ments 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  25 

ments;  what  are  the  labours  which  I  have  to 
undergo,  what  are  my  fatigues  when  compared 
to  his,  who  had  every  thing  to  do,  from  the  first 
tree  he  felled  to  the  finishing  of  his  house? 
Every  year  I  kill  from  1500  to  2,000  weight  of 
pork,  1,200  of  beef,  half  a  dozen  of  good 
wethers  in  harvest:  of  fowls  my  wife  has  al 
ways  a  great  stock:  what  can  I  wish  more?  "My 
negroes  are  tolerably  faithful  and  healthy;  by  a 
long  series  of  industry  and  honest  dealings,  my 
father  left  behind  him  the  name  of  a  good  man ; 
I  have  but  to  tread  his  paths  to  be  happy  and 
a  good  man  like  him.  I  know  enough  of  the 
law  to  regulate  my  little  concerns  with  pro 
priety,  nor  do  I  dread  its  power;  these  are  the 
grand  outlines  of  my  situation,  but  as  I  can  feel 
much  more  than  I  am  able  to  expfe&s^I  hardly 
know  how  to  proceed.  When  (ny  first  styi  was 
born,  the  whole  train  of  my  ide^s~were  sud 
denly  altered;  never  was  there  a  charm  that 
acted  so  quickly  and  powerfully;  I  ceased  to 
ramble  in  imagination  through  the  wide  world; 
my  excursions_since_have  not  exceectetT  the 
bounds  of  my  farm,  an3  ainrly~prmci£a]_pleas- 
ures  are  now  centered  within  ffs  scanty  limits: 
but  at  the  same  time  there  is  not  an  operation 
belonging  to  it  in  which  I  do  not  find  some  food 
for  useful  reflections.  This  is  the  reason,  I 
suppose,  that  when  you  was  here,  you  used,  in 

your 


26          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

your  refined  stile,  to  denominate  me  the  farmer 
of  feelings;  how  rude  must  those  feelings  be  in 
him  who  daily  holds  the  axe  or  the  plough,  how 
much  more  refined  on  the  contrary  those  of  the 
European,  whose  mind  is  improved  by  educa 
tion,  example,  books,  and  by  every  acquired  ad 
vantage!  Those  feelings,  however,  I  will  de 
lineate  as  well  as  I  can,  agreeably  to  your  ear 
nest  request.  When  I  contemplate  my  wife,  by 
my  fire-side,  while  she  either  spins,  knits,  darns, 
or  suckles  our  child,  I  cannot  describe  the  vari 
ous  emotions  of  love,  of  gratitude,  of  conscious 
pride  which  thrill  in  my  heart,  and  often  over 
flow  in  involuntary  tears.  I  feel  the  necessity, 
the  sweet  pleasure  of  acting, my. jaarr., .the  part 
of  an  husband  and  father,  with  an  attention  and 
propriety  which  may  entitle  me  to  my  good 
fortune.  It  is  true  these  pleasing  images  vanish 
-  with  the  smoke  of  my  pipe,  but  though  they 
disappear  from  my  mind,  the  impression  they 
have  made  on  my  heart  is  indelible.  When  I 
play  with  the  infant,  my  warm  imagination 
runs  forward,  and  eagerly  anticrpatfisJiis,  future 
temper  and  constitution.  I  would  willingly 
open  the  book  of  fate,  and  know  in  which  page 
his  destiny  is  delineated;  alas!  where  is  the 
father  who  in  those  moments  of  paternal  extacy 
can  delineate  one  half  of  the  thoughts  which 
dilate  his  heart?  I  am  sure  I  cannot;  then  again 

I  fear 


AMERICAN  FARMER. 


27 


I  fear  for  the  health  of  those  who  are  become 
so  dear  to  me,  and  in  their  sicknesses  I  severely 
pay  for  the  joys  I  experienced  while  they  were 
well.  Whenever  I  go  abroad  it  is  always  in 
voluntary.  I  never  return  home  without  feeling 
some  pleasing  emotion,  which  I  often  suppr 
as  useless  and  foolish.  The  instant  I  enter  on 
my  own  land,  the  brigtit  idea  of  property,  of 
exclusive  right,  of  independence  exalt  my  mind. 
Precious  soil,  I  say  to  myself,  by  what  singular 
custom  of  law  is  it  that  thou  wast  made  to  con 
stitute  the  riches  of  the  freeholder?  What 
should  we  American  farmers  be  without  the 
distinct  possession  of  that  soil?  It  feeds,  it 
clothes  us,  from  it  we  draw  even  a  great  ex 
uberancy,  our  best  meat,  our  richest  drink,  the 
very  honey  of  our  bees  comes  from  this  priv 
ileged  spot.  [No  wonder  we  should  thus  cherish 
its  possession,  no  wonder  that  so  many  Euro 
peans  who  have  never  been  able  to  say  that  such 
portion  of  land  was  theirs,  cross  the  Atlantic  to 
realize  that  happinessT]  This  formerly  rude 
soil  has  been  converted  by  my  father  into  a 
pleasant  farm,  and  in  return  it  has  established 
all  our  rights;  on  it  is  founded  our  rank,  our 
freedom,  our  power  as  citizens,  jnir  importance 
as  inhabitants  of  such  a  district.  These  images 
I  must  confess  I  always  behold  with  pleasure, 
and  extend  them  as  far  as  my  imagination  can 

reach 


SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

reach :  for  this  is  what  may  be  called  the  true 
and  the  only  philosophy  of  an  American 
farmer.  Pray  do  not  laugh  in  thus  seeing  an 
artless  countryman  tracing  himself  through  the 
simple  modifications  of  his  life;  remember  that 
you  have  required  it,  therefore  with  candor, 
though  with  diffidence,  I  endeavour  to  follow 
the  thread  of  my  feelings,  but  I  cannot  tell  you 
all.  Often  when  I  plough  my  low  ground,  I 
place  my  little  boy  on  a  chair,  which  screws  to 
the  beam  of  the  plough — its  motion  and  that 
of  the  horses  please  him,  he  is  perfectly  happy 
and  begins  to  chat.  As  I  lean  over  the  handle, 
various  are  the  thoughts  which  croud  into  my 
mind.  .  I  am  now  doing  for  him,  I  say,  what 
my  father  formerl^jiid~-£ox-in£^^iiay:-Xjod  en 
able  him  to  live  that  he  may  perform  the  same 
operations  for  the  same  purposes  when  I  am 
worn  out  and  .old  [I  relieve  his  mother  of  some 
trouble  while  I  have  him  with  me,  the  odor 
iferous,  furrow  exhilarates  his  spirits,  and  seems 
to  do  the  child  a  great  deal  of  good,  for  he 
looks  more  blooming  since  I  have  adopted  that 
practice-;  •  can  mofc^  pleasure,  more  dignity  be 
added  to  that  primary  occupation  ?  The  father 
thus  ploughing  with  his  child,  and  to  feed  his 
/family,  is  inferior  only  to  the  emperor  of  China 
ploughing  as  an  example  to  his  kingdom.  In 
the- evening  when  I  return  home  through  my 

low 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  29 

low  grounds,  I  am  astonished  at  the  myriads  of 
insects  which  I  perceive  dancing  in  the  beams 
of  the  setting  sun.  I  was  before  scarcely  ac 
quainted  with  their  existence,  they  are  so  small 
that  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  them;  they  an 
carefully  improving  this  short  evening  space, 
not  daring  to  expose  themselves  to  the  blaze  01 
our  meridian  sun.  I  never  see  an  egg  brought 
on  my  table  but  I  feel  penetrated  with  the  won-' 
derful  change  it  would  have  undergone  but  for 
my  gluttony;  it  might  have  been  a  gentle  use-  ' 
ful  hen  leading  her  chickens  with  a  care  and 
vigilance  which  speaks  shame  to  many  women. 
A  cock  perhaps,  arrayed  with  the  most  ma 
jestic  plumes,  tender  to  its  mate,  bold,  cour 
ageous,  endowed  with  an  astonishing  instinct, 
with  thoughts,  with  memory,  and  every  distin 
guishing  characteristic  of  the  reason  of  man.  I 
never  see  my  trees  drop  their  leaves  and  their 
fruit  in  the  autumn,  and  bud  again  in  the 
spring,  without  wonder;  the  sagacity  of  those 
animals  which  have  long  been  the  tenants  of  my 
farm  astonish  me :  some  of  them  seem  to  sur 
pass  even  men  in  memory  and  sagacity.  I  could 
tell  you  singular  instances  of  that  kind.  What 
then  is  this  instinct  which  we  so  debase,  and  of 
which  we  are  taught  to  entertain  so  diminutive 
an  idea  i^Nly  bee>,  above  any  other  tenants  of 
my  farm,  attFacfmy  attention  an^resrjectj.Jjam 

astonished 


30          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

astonished  to  see  that  nothing  exists  but  what 
has  its  enemy,  one  species  pursue  and  live  upon 
the  other:  unfortunately  our  kingbirds  are  the 
destroyers  of  those  industrious  insects;  but  on 
the  other  hand,  these  birds  preserve  our  fields 
from  the  depredation  of  crows  which  they  pur 
sue  on  the  wing  with  great  vigilance  and  aston 
ishing  dexterity.  Thus  divided  by  two  inter 
ested  motives,  I  have  long  resisted  the  desire  I 
had  to  kill  them,  until  last  year,  when  I  thought 
they  increased  too  much,  and  my  indulgence 
had  been  carried  too  far;  it  was  at  the  time  of 
swarming  when  they  all  came  and  fixed  them 
selves  on  the  neighbouring  trees,  from  whence 
they  catched  those  that  returned  loaded  from 
the  fields.  This  made  me  resolve  to  kill  as 
many  as  I  could,  and  I  was  just  ready  to  fire, 
when  a  bunch  of  bees  as  big  as  my  fist,  issued 
from  one  of  the  hives,  rushed  on  one  of  the 
birds,  and  probably  strung  him,  for  he  instantly 
screamed,  and  flew,  not  as  before,  in  an  irregu 
lar  manner,  but  in  a  direct  line.  He  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  same  bold  phalanx,  at  a  consider 
able  distance,  which  unfortunately  becoming 
too  sure  of  victory,  quitted  their  military  array 
and  disbanded  themselves.  By  this  inconsider 
ate  step  they  lost  all  that  aggregate  of  force 
which  had  made  the  bird  fly  off.  Perceiving 
their  disorder  he  immediately  returned  and 

snapped 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  31 

snapped  as  many  as  he  rvanted;  nay  he  had 
even  the  impudence  to  alight  on  the  very  twig 
from  which  the  bees  had  drove  him.  I  killed 
him  and  immediately  opened  his  craw,  from 
which  I  took  171  bees;  I  laid  them  all  on  a 
blanket  in  the  sun,  and  to  my  great  surprise  54 
returned  to  life,  licked  themselves  clean,  and 
joyfully  went  back  to  the  hive;  where  they 
probably  informed  their  companions  of  such  an 
adventure  and  escape,  as  I  believe  had  never 
happened  before  to  American  bees!  I  draw  a 
great  fund  of  pleasure  from  the  quails  which 
inhabit  my  farm ;  they  abundantly  repay  me,  by 
their  various  notes  and  peculiar  tameness,  for 
the  inviolable  hospitality  I  constantly  shew 
them  in  the  winter.  Instead  of  perfidiously  tak 
ing  advantage  of  their  great  and  affecting  dis 
tress,  when  nature  offers  nothing  but  a  barren 
universal  bed  of  snow,  when  irresistible  neces 
sity  forces  them  to  my  barn  doors,  I  permit 
them  to  feed  unmolested;  and  it  is  not  the  least 
agreeable  spectacle  which  that  dreary  season 
presents,  when  I  see  those  beautiful  birds, 
tamed  by  hunger,  intermingling  with  all  my 
cattle  and  sheep,  seeking  in  security  for  the 
poor  scanty  grain  which  but  for  them  would  be 
useless  and  lost.  Often  in  the  angles  of  the 
fences  where  the  motion  of  the  wind  prevents 
the  snow  from  settling,  I  carry  them  both  chaff 

and 


32          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

and  grain;  the  one  tj  feed  them,  the  other  to 
prevent  their  tender  feet  from  freezing  fast  to 
the  earth  as  I  have  frequently  observed  them  to 
do.     I  do  not  know  an  instance  in  which  the 
singular  barbarity  of  man  is  so  strongly  de 
lineated,   as  in   the   catching  and  murthering 
those  harmless  birds,  at  that  cruel  season  of  the 
year.  Mr.  ***,  one  of  the  most  famous  and  ex 
traordinary  farmers  that  has  ever  done  honour 
to  the  province  of  Connecticut,  by  his  timely 
and  humane  assistance  in  a  hard  winter,  saved 
this    species    from    being    entirely    destroyed. 
They  perished  all  over  the  country,  none  of 
their  delightful  whistlings  were  heard  the  next 
spring,  but  upon  this  gentleman's  farm;  and  to 
his  humanity  we  owe  the  continuation  of  their 
music.  When  the  severities  of  that  season  have 
dispirited  all  my  cattle,  no  farmer  ever  attends 
them  with  more  pleasure  than  I  do;  it  is  one  of 
those  duties  which  is  sweetened  with  the  most 
rational  satisfaction.   I  amuse  myself  in  behold 
ing  their  different  tempers,   actions,   and  the 
various  effects  of  their  instinct  now  powerfully 
impelled  by  the  force  of  hunger.     I  trace  their 
various  inclinations,  and  the  different  effects  of 
their  passions,  which  are  exactly  the  same  as 
,  among  men;  the  law  is  to  us  precisely  what  I 
-.  am  in  my  barn  yard,  a  bridle  and  check  to  pre 
vent  the  strong  and  greedy,  from  oppressing 

the 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  33 

the  timid  and  weak.  Conscious  of  superiority 
they  always  strive  to  encroach  on  their  neigh 
bours;  unsatisfied  with  their  portion,  they 
eagerly  swallow  it  in  order  to  have  an  oppor 
tunity  of  taking  what  is  given  to  others,  except 
they  are  prevented.  Some  I  chide,  others,  un 
mindful  of  my  admonitions,  receive  some 
blows.  Could  victuals  thus  be  given  to  men  with 
out  the  assistance  of  any  language,  I  am  sure 
they  would  not  behave  better  to  one  another, 
nor  more  philosophically  than  my  cattle  do. 
The  same  spirit  prevails  in  the  stable;  but  there 
I  have  to  do  with  more  generous  animals,  there 
my  well  known  voice  has  immediate  influence, 
and  sp.onrjre8te£ea.Deace  and  tranquillity.  Thus 
h"y  superior  knowledge^  govern  all  my  cattle  as 
wise -men  a-re  obliged  to  govern  fools  and  the^ 
ignorant.  A  variety  of  other  thoughts  croud 
on  my  mind  at  that  peculiar  instant,  but  they  all 
vanish  by  the  time  I  return  home.  If  in  a  cold 
night  I  swiftly  travel  in  my  sledge,  carried 
along  at  the  rate  of  twelve  miles  an  hour,  many 
are  the  reflections  excited  by  surrounding  cir 
cumstances.  I  ask  myself  what  sort  of  an  agent 
is  that  which  we  call  frost?  Our  minister  com 
pares  it  to  needles,  the  points  of  which  enters 
our  pores.  What  is  become  of  the  heat  of  the 
summer;  in  what  part  of  the  world  is  it  that  the 
N.  W.  keeps  these  grand  magazines  of  nitre? 

when 


34          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

when  I  see  in  the  morning  a  river  over  which  I 
can  travel,  that  in  the  evening  before  was 
liquid,  I  am  astonished  indeed!  What  is  be 
come  of  those  millions  of  insects  which  played 
in  our  summer  fields,  and  in  our  evening 
meadows;  they  were  so  puny  and  so  delicate, 
the  period  of  their  existence  was  so  short,  that 
one  cannot  help  wondering  how  they  could 
learn,  in  that  short  space,  the  sublime  art  to  hide 
themselves  and  their  offspring  in  so  perfect  a 
manner  as  to  baffle  the  rigour  of  the  season,  and 
preserve  that  precious  embrio  of  life,  that  small 
portion  of  ethereal  heat,  which  if  once  de 
stroyed  would  destroy  the  species!  Whence 
that  irresistible  propensity  to  sleep  so  common 
in  all  those  who  are  severely  attacked  by  the 
frost.  Dreary  as  this  season  appears,  yet  it  has 
like  all  others  its  miracles,  it  presents  to  man  a 
variety  of  problems  which  he  can  never  resolve; 
among  the  rest,  we  have  here  a  set  of  small 
birds  which  never  appear  until  the  snow  falls; 
contrary  to  all  others,  they  dwell  and  appear  to 
delight  in  that  element. 

It  is  my  bees,  however,  which  afford  me  the 
most  pleasing  and  extensive  themes;  let  me  look 
at  them  when  I  will,  their  government,  their 
industry,  their  quarrels,  their  passions,  always 
present  me  with  something  new ;  for  which  rea 
son,  when  weary  with  labour,  my  common 

place 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  35 

place  of  rest  is  under  my  locust-tree,  close  by 
my  bee-house.  By  their  movements  I  can  pre 
dict  the  weather,  and  can  tell  the  day  of  their 
swarming;  but  the  most  difficult  point  is,  when 
on  the  wing,  to  know  whether  they  want  to  go 
to  the  woods  or  not.  If  they  have  previously 
pitched  in  some  hollow  trees,  it  is  not  the  allure 
ments  of  salt  and  water,  of  fennel,  hickory 
leaves,  &c.  nor  the  finest  box,  that  can  induce 
them  to  stay;  they  will  prefer  those  rude,  rough 
habitations  to  the  best  polished  mahogany  hive. 
When  that  is  the  case  with  mine,  I  seldom 
thwart  their  inclinations;  it  is  in  freedom  that 
they  work:  were  I  to  confine  them,  they  would 
dwindle  away  and  quit  their  labour.  In  such 
excursions  we  only  part  for  a  while;  I  am  gen 
erally  sure  to  find  them  again  the  following  fall. 
This  elopement  of  theirs  only  adds  to  my  rec 
reations;  I  know  how  to  deceive  even  their 
superlative  instinct;  nor  do  I  fear  losing  them, 
though  eighteen  miles  from  my  house,  and 
lodged  in  the  most  lofty  trees,  in  the  most  im 
pervious  of  our  forests.  I  once  took  you  along 
with  me  in  one  of  these  rambles,  and  yet  you 
insist  on  my  repeating  the  detail  of  our  opera 
tions:  it  brings  back  into  my  mind  many  of  the 
useful  and  entertaining  reflections  with  which 
you  so  happily  beguiled  our  tedious  hours. 
After  I  have  done  sowing,  by  way  of  "recrea 
tion, 


36          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

tion,  I  prepare  for  a  week's  jaunt  in  the  woods, 
not  to  hunt  either  the  deer  or  the  bears,  as  my 
neighbours  do,  but  to  catch  the  more  Jjarmless 
bees.  I  cannot  boast  that  this  chase  ilso  noble, 
or  so  famous  among  men,  but  I  findTt^leiSs^ 
fatiguing,  and  full  as  profitable;  and  the  last 
consideration  is  the  only  one  that  moves  me. 
I  take  with  me  my  dog,  as  a  companion,  for  he 
is  useless  as  to  this  game ;  my  gun,  for  no  man 
you  know  ought  to  enter  the  woods  without 
one;  my  blanket,  some  provisions,  some  wax, 
vermilion,  honey,  and  a  small  pocket  compass. 
With  these  implements  I  proceed  to  such  woods 
as  are  at  a  considerable  distance  from  any  set 
tlements.  I  carefully  examine  whether  they 
abound  with  large  trees,  if  so,  I  make  a  small 
fire  on  some  flat  stones,  in  a  convenient  place; 
on  the  fire  I  put  some  wax;  close  by  this  fire,  on 
another  stone,  I  drop  honey  in  distinct  drops, 
which  I  surround  with  small  quantities  of  ver- 
million,  laid  on  the  stone ;  and  then  I  retire  care 
fully  to  watch  whether  any  bees  appear.  If 
there  are  any  in  that  neighbourhood,  I  rest  as 
sured  that  the  smell  of  the  burnt  wax  will  un 
avoidably  attract  them ;  they  will  soon  find  out 
the  honey,  for  they  are  fond  of  preying  on  that 
which  is  not  their  own;  and  in  their  approach 
they  will  necessarily  tinge  themselves  with  some 
particles  of  vermillion,  which  will  adhere  long 

to 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  37 

to  their  bodies.  I  next  fix  my  compass,  to  find 
out  their  course,  which  they  keep  invariably 
strait,  when  they  are  returning  home  loaded. 
By  the  assistance  of  my  watch,  I  observe  how 
long  those  are  returning  which  are  marked  with 
vermillion.  Thus  possessed  of  the  course,  and, 
in  some  measure,  of  the  distance,  which  I  can 
easily  guess  at,  I  follow  the  first,  and  seldom 
fail  of  coming  to  the  tree  where  those  republics 
are  lodged.  I  then  mark  it;  and  thus,  with 
patience,  I  have  found  out  sometimes  eleven 
swarms  in  a  season;  and  it  is  inconceivable  what 
a  quantity  of  honey  these  trees  wil  sometimes 
afford.  It  entirely  depends  on  the  size  of  the 
hollow,  as  the  bees  never  rest  nor  swarm  till  it 
is  all  replenished;  for  like  men,  it  is  only  the 
want  of  room  that  induces  them  to  quit  the 
maternal  hive.  Next  I  proceed  to  some  of  the 
nearest  settlements,  where  I  procure  proper  as 
sistance  to  cut  down  the  trees,  get  all  my  prey 
secured,  and  then  return  home  with  my  prize. 
The  first  bees  I  ever  procured  were  thus  found 
in  the  woods,  by  mere  accident;  for  at  that  time 
I  had  no  kind  of  skill  in  this  method  of  tracing 
them.  The  body  of  the  tree  being  perfectly 
sound,  they  had  lodged  themselves  in  the  hol 
low  of  one  of  its  principal  limbs,  which  I  care 
fully  sawed  off  and  with  a  good  deal  of  labour 
and  industry  brought  it  home,  where  I  fixed  it 

up 


38          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

up  again  in  the  same  position  in  which  I  found 

V  $  it  growing.     This  was  in  April;   I  had  five 

swarms  that  year,  and  they  have  been  ever  since 

very  prosperous.    This  business  generally  takes 

/    up  a  weekxff  my  time  every  fall,lihd  to  me  it  is 
^     a  week  of  solitary  ease  and  relaxatior). 

The  seed  is. by  that  tirjoe^^omffTtfted  to  the 
ground;  there  is  nothing  very  material  to  do 
at  home,  and  this  additional  quantity  of  honey 
enables  me  to  be  more  generous  to  my  home 
bees,  and  my  wife  to  make  a  due  quantity  of 
mead.  The  reason,  Sir,  that  you  found  mine 
better  than  that  of  others  is,  that  she  puts  two 
gallons  of  brandy  in  each  barrel,  which  ripens 
it,  and  takes  off  that  sweet,  luscious  taste,  which 
it  is  apt  to  retain  a  long  time.  If  we  find  any 
where  in  the  woods  (no  matter  on  whose  land) 
what  is  called  a  bee-tree,  we  must  mark  it;  in 
the  fall  of  the  year  when  we  propose  to  cut  it 
down,  our  duty  is  to  inform  the  proprietor  of 
the  land,  who  is  entitled  to  half  the  contents; 
if  this  is  not  complied  with  we  are  exposed  to 
an  action  of  trespass,  as  well  as  he  who  should 

,  go  and  cut  down  a  bee-tree  which  he  had 
neither  found  out  nor  marked. 
x^We--h<ive  twice  a  year  th ^pleasure  of  catch* 
\ing  pigeons,  Ariose  numbers  llr^-sometimes  sro 
astonishing  as  to  obscure  the  sun  in  their  flight. 
Where  is  it  that  they  hatch?  for  such  multi 
tudes 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  39 

tudes  must  require  an  immense  quantity  of 
food.  I  fancy  they  breed  toward  the  plains  of 
Ohio,  and  those  about  lake  Michigan,  which 
abound  in  wild  oats ;  though  I  have  never  kil 
led  any  that  had  that  grain  in  their  craws.  In 
one  of  them,  last  year,  I  found  some  undigested 
rice.  Now  the  nearest  rice  fields  from  where  I 
live,  must  be  at  least  560  miles;  and  either  their 
digestion  must  be  suspended  while  they  are 
flying,  or  else  they  must  fly  with  the  celerity 
of  the  wind.  We  catch  them  with  a  net  ex 
tended  on  the  ground,  to  which  they  are  allured 
by  what  we  call  tame  wild  pigeons,  made  blind, 
and  fastened  to  a  long  string ;  his  short  flights, 
and  his  repeated  calls,  never  fail  to  bring  them 
down.  The  greatest  number  I  ever  catched 
was  fourteen  dozen,  though  much  larger  quan 
tities  have  often  been  trapped.  I  have  fre 
quently  seen  them  at  the  market  so  cheap,  that 
for  a  penny  you  might  have  as  many  as  you 
carry  away;  and  yet  from  the v extreme 
you  must  not  conclude,  that  they 
are  but  an  ordin  a  ry  food ;  ^QJL  the-eontrary,  I 
think  they  are  excellent.  Every  farmer  has  a 
tame  wild  pigeorTTn  a  cage  at  his  door  all  the 
year  round,  in  order  to  be  ready  whenever  the 
season  comes  for  catching  them. 

The  pleasure  I  receive  from  the  warblings 
of  the  birds  in  the  spring,  is  superior  to  my 

poor 


40          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

poor  description,  as  the  continual  succession 
of  their  tuneful  notes  is  for  ever  new  to  me.  I 
generally  rise  from  bed  about  that  indistinct 
interval,  which,  properly  speaking,  is  neither 
night  or  day;  for  this  is  the  moment  of  the 
most  universal  vocal  choir.  Who  can  listen 
unmov^dy  tcr the  sweet  love  tales  of  our  robins, 
told  from  tree  to  tree?  or  toThr^Mrill  cat 
birds?  TFe  suBImie  accents  of  the  thrush  from 
on  high,  always  retard  my  steps  that  I  may 
listen  to  the  delicious  music.  The  variegated 
Xappearances  of  the  dew  drop^  as  they  hang  to 
the~  different  objects,  ~musr"p  resent  even  to  a 
clownish  imagination,  the  most  voluptuous 
ideas.  The  astonishing  art  which  all  bjjrds  dis 
play  in  the,  construction  of-theij^nests,  ill  pro 
vided  as  we  may  suppose  them  \vith  proper 
tools,  their  neatness,  their  convenience,  always 
make  me  ashamed  of  the  slovenliness  of  our 
houses;  their  love  to  their  dame,  their  inces 
sant  careful  attention,  and  the  peculiar  songs 
they  address  to  her  while  she  tediously  incu 
bates  their  eggs,  remind  me  of.  my  duty  could 
I  ever  forget  it.  Their  affection  to  their  help 
less  little  ones,  is  a  lively  precept;  and  in 
short,  the  whole  oeconomy  of  what  we  proudly 
call  the  brute  creation,  is  admirable  in  every  cir 
cumstance  ;  and  vain  man,  though  adorned  with 
the  additional  gift  of  reason,  might  learn  from 

the 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  41 

the  perfection  of  instinct,  how  to  regulate  the  ) 
follies,  and  how  to  temper  the  errors  which  /  > 
this  second  gift  often  makes  him  commit.  Thisx 
is  a  subject,  on  which  I  have  often  bestowed 
the  most  serious  thoughts;  I  have  often  blushed 
within  myself,  and  been  greatly  astonished, 
when  I  have  compared  the  unerring  path  they 
all  follow,  all  just,  all  proper,  all  wise,  up  to 
the  necessary  degree  of  perfection,  with  the 
coarse,  the  imperfect  systems  of  men,  not 
merely  as  governours  and  kings,  but  as  masters, 
as  husbands,  as  fathers,  as  citizens.  But  this 
is  a  sanctuary  in  which  an  ignorant  farmer 
must  not  presume  to  enter.  If  ever  man  was  /, 
permitted  to  receive  and  enjoy  some  blessings 
that  might  alleviate  thr  many  sorrows  to  which 
he  is  exposed,  it  is 'certainly  irr  the  country, 
when  he  attentively  considers  those  ravishing 
scenes  with  which  he  is  every  where  sur- 
rounded.^__This  jsihe  only  timeTbf  the  year 
in  which  I  am  avaricious  of  every  moment,  I  / 
therefore  lose  none  that  can  add^to  this  simple 

and    inoffensive    happiness. 1 — cnam — early 

throughout  all  my  fields;  not  the  least  opera 
tion  do  I  perform,  which  is  not  accompanied 
with  the  most  pleasing  observations;  werej.to.. 
extend  them  as  far  as  I  have  carried  them,  I 
should  become  tedious;  you  would  think  me 
guilty  of  affectation,  and  I  should  perhaps  re- ^ 

present 


42          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

present  many  things  as  pleasurable  from  which 
you  might  not  perhaps  receive  the  least  agree 
able  emotions.  But,  believe  me,  what  I  write 
is  all  true  and  real. 

Some  time  ago,  as  I  sat  smoaking  a  con 
templative  pipe  in  my  piazza,  I  saw  with 
amazement  a  remarkable  instance  of  selfish 
ness  displayed  in  a  very  small  bird,  which  I 
had  hitherto  respected  for  its  inoffensiveness. 
Three  nests  were  placed  almost  contiguous  to 
each  other  in  my  piazza:  that  of  a  swallow 
was  affixed  in  the  corner  next  to  the  house, 
that  of  a  phebe  in  the  other,  a  wren  possessed 
a  little  box  which  I  had  made  on  purpose,  and 
hung  between.  Be  not  surprised  at  their  tame- 
ness,  all  my  family  had  long  been  taught  to 
respect  them  as  well  as  myself.  The  wren  had 
shewn  before  signs  of  dislike  to  the  box  which 
I  had  given  it,  but  I  knew  not  on  what  ac 
count;  at  last  it  resolved,  small  as  it  was,  to 
drive  the  swallow  from  its  own  habitation,  and 
to  my  very  great  surprise  it  succeeded.  Im 
pudence  often  gets  the  better  of  modesty,  and 
this  exploit  was  no  sooner  performed,  than  it 
removed  every  material  to  its  own  box  with 
the  most  admirable  dexterity;  the  signs  of  tri 
umph  appeared  very  visible,  it  fluttered  its 
wings  with  uncommon  velocity,  an  universal 
joy  was  perceivable  in  all  its  movements. 

Where 


AMERICAN  FARMER. 


43 


Where  did  this  little  bird  learn  that  spirit  of 
injustice?  It  was  not  endowed  with  what  we 
term  reason !  Here  then  is  a  proof  that  both 
those  gifts  border  very  near  on  one  another; 
for  we  see  the  perfection  of  the  one  mixing 
with  the  errors  of  the  other!  The  peacable 
swallow  like  the  passive  Quaker,  meekly  sat 
at  a  small  distance  and  never  offered  the  least 
resistance;  but  no  sooner  was  the  plunder  car 
ried  away,  than  the  injured  bird  went  to  work 
with  unabated  ardour,  and  in  a  few  days  the 
depredations  were  repaired.  To  prevent  hov- 
ever  a  repetition  of  the  same  violence,  I  re 
moved  the  wren's  box  to  another  part  of  the 
house. 

In  the  middle  of  my  new  parlour  I  have, -you 
may  remember,  a  curious  republic  of  indus 
trious  hornets;  their  nest  hangs  to  the  cieling, 
by  the  same  twig  on  which  it  was  so  admirably 
built  and  contrived  in  the  woods.  Its  removal 
did  not  displease  them,  for  they  find  in  my 
house  plenty  of  food;  and  I  have  left  a  hole 
open  in  one  of  the  panes  of  the  window,  which 
answers  all  their  purposes.  By  this  kind  usage 
they  are  become  quite  harmless;  they  live  on 
the  flies,  which  are  very  troublesome  to  us 
throughout  the  summer;  they  are  constantly 
busy  in  catching  them,  even  on  the  eyelids  of 
my  children.  It  is  surprising  how  quickly 

they 


/ 


44          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

they  smear  them  with  a  sort  of  glue,  lest  they 
might  escape,  and  when  thus  prepared,  they 
carry  them  to  their  nests,  as  food  for  their 
young  ones.  These  globular  nests  are  most 
ingeniously  divided  into  many  stories,  all  pro 
vided  with  cells,  and  proper  communications. 
The  materials  with  which  this  fabric  is  built, 
they  procure  from  the  cottony  furze,  with 
which  our  oak  rails  are  covered  ;  this  substance 
tempered  with  glue,  produces  a  sort  of  paste 
board,  which  is  very  strong,  and  resists  all  the 
inclemencies  of  the  weather.  By  their  assist 
ance,  I  am  but  little  troubled  with  flies.  All 
my  family  are  so  accustomed  to  their  strong 
buzzing,  that  no  one  takes  any  notice  of  them; 
and  though  they  are  fierce  and  vindictive,  yet 
kindness  and  hospitality  has  made  them  useful 
and  harmless.  -^ 

We  have  a  great  variety  of  wasps;  "most  of 
them  build  their  nests  in  mud,v  which  they  fix 
against  the  shingles  of  our  roofs,  as  nig'h  the 
pitch  as  they  can.  These  aggregates  represent 
nothing,  at  first  view,  but  coarse  and  irregular 
lumps,  but  if  you  break  them,  you  will  ob 
serve,  that  the  inside  of  them  contains  a  great 
number  of  oblong  cells,  in  which  they  deposit 
their  eggs,  and  in  which  they  bury  themselves 
in  the  fall  of  the  year.  Thus  immured  they 
securely  pass  through  the  severity  of  that  sea 

son 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  45 

son,  and  on  the  return  of  the  sun  are  enabled  to 
perforate  their  cells,  and  to  open  themselves 
a  passage  from  these  recesses  into  the  sunshine. 
The  yellow  wasps,  which  build  under  ground, 
in  our  meadows,  are  much  more  to  be  dreaded, 
for  when  the  mower  unwittingly  passes  his 
scythe  over  their  holes  they  immediately  sally 
forth  with  a  fury  and  velocity  superior  even  to 
the  strength  of  man.  They  make  the  boldest 
fly,  and  the  only  remedy  is  to  lie  down  and 
cover  our  heads  with  hay,  for  it  is  only  at  the 
head  they  aim  their  blows;  nor  is  there  any 
possibility  of  finishing  that  part  of  the  work 
until,  by  means  of  fire  and  brimstone,  they  are 
all  silenced.  But  though  I  have  been  obliged 
to  execute  this  dreadful  sentence  in  my  own  de 
fence,  I  have  often  thought  it  a  great  pity,  for 
the  sake  of  a  little  hay,  to  lay  waste  so  ingen 
ious  a  subterranean  town,  furnished  with  every 
conveniency,  and  built  with  a  most  surprising 
mechanism. 

I  never  should  have  done  were  I  to  recount 
the  many  objects  which  involuntarily  strike  my    / 
imagination  in  the  midst  of  my  work,  and  spon-^ 
taneously  afford  me  the  most  pleasing  relief. 
These  appear  insignificant  trifles  to  a  person 
who     has     travelled     through     Europe     and 
America,   and   is  acquainted  with  books  and 
with  many  sciences;  but  such  simple  objects 

of 


46          SITUATION,  &c.  OF  AN 

of  contemplation  suffice  me,  who  have  no  time 
to  bestow  on  more  extensive  observations. 
Happily  these  require  no  study,  they  are  ob 
vious,  they  gild  the  moments  I  dedicate  to 
them,  and  enliven  the  severe  labours  which  I 
perform.  At  home  my  happiness  springs  from 
*  *  very  different  objects;  the  gradual  unfolding 

^  of  my   children's   reason,   the   study  of  their 

•^       dawning  tempers  attract  all  my  paternal  atten- 
v.\r  tion.     I  have  to  contrive  little  punishments  for 

Vs*  their  little   faults,   small   encouragements   for 

their  good  actions,  and  a  variety  of  other  ex 
pedients  dictated  by  various  occasions.  But 
these  are  themes  unworthy  your  perusal,  and 
which  ought  not  to  be  carried  beyond  the  walls 
of  my  house,  being  domestic  mysteries  adapted 
only  to  the  locality  of  the  small  sanctuary 
wherein  my  family  resides.  Sometimes  I  de 
light  in  inventing  and  executing  machines, 
which  simplify  my  wife's  labour.  I  have  been 
tolerably  successful  that  way;  and  these,  Sir, 
are  the  narrow  circles  within  which  I  constantly 
revolve,  and  what  can  I  wish  for  beyond  them? 
I  bless  God  for  all  the  good  he  has  given  me; 
I  envy  no  man's  prosperity,  and  with  no  other 
portion  of  happiness^  that  that  I  may  live  to 
teach  the  same  philosophy  to  my  children;  and 
give  each  of  them  a  farm,  shew  them  how  to 
cultivate  it,  and  be  like  their  father,  good  sub 
stantial 


AMERICAN  FARMER.  47 

001 

stantial  independent  American  farmers — an 
appellation  which  will  be  the  most  fortunate 
one,  a  man  of  my  class  can  possess,  so  long  as 
our  civil  government  continues  to  shed  bless 
ings  on  our  husbandry.  Adieu. 


pA^X-U* 


<L 


48       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 
LETTER  III. 

WHAT  IS  AN  AMQfclCAN. 

I  WISH  I  could  be  acquainted  with  the  feel 
ings  and  thoughts  which  must  agitate  the 
heart  and  present  themselves  to  the  mind 
of  an  enlightened  Englishman,  when  he  first 
lands  on  this  continent.  He  must  greatly  re 
joice  that  he  lived  at  a  time  to  see  this  fair 
country  discovered  and  settled;  he  must  neces 
sarily  feel  a  share  of  national  pride,  when  he 
views  the  chain  of  settlements  which  embel 
lishes  these  extended  shores.  When  he  says  to 
himself,  this  is  the  work  of  my  countrymen, 
who,  when  convulsed  by  factions,  afflicted  by  a 
variety  of^iniserres-aHd  wants,  restless  and  im 
patient,  took  refuge  here.  They  brought  along 
with  them  thetr  national  genius,  to  which  they 
principally  owe  what  liberty^hey  enjoy,  and 
what  substance  they  possess.  Here  he  sees  the 
industry  of  his  native  country  displayed  in  a 
new  manrier,  and  traces  in  their  works  the  em- 
bries~~oF~all  the  arts,  sciences,  and  ingenuity 
which  flourish  in  Europe.  Here  he  beholds 
fair  cities,  substantial  villages,  extensive  fields, 
an  immense  country  filled  with  decent  houses, 

good 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 


good  roads,  orchards,  meadows,  and  bridges, 
where   an   hundred  years   ago   all   was   wild, 
woody  and  uncultivated!     What  a   train  of    / 
pleasing  ideas  this  fair  spectacle  must  suggest;  / 
it  is  a  prospect  which  must  inspire  a  good  cit-/ 
izen  with  the  most  heartfelt  pleasure.     The! 
difficulty  consists  in  the  manner  of  viewing  so 
extensive  a  scene.    He  is  arrived  on  a  new  con-    \ 
tinent;  a  modern  society  offers  itself  to  his  con 
templation,  different  from  what  he  had  hitherto 
seen.     It  is  not  composed,  as  in  Europe,  of  v 
great  lords  who  possess  every  thing,  and  of  a 
herd  of  people  who  have  nothing.    [Here  are 
no  aristocratical  families,  no  courts,  no  kings, 
no  bishops,  no  ecclesiastical  dominion,  no  in 
visible' power  giving  to  a  few  a  very  visible 
one;  no  great  manufacturers  employing  thou 
sands,  no  great  refinements  of  luxury.  The  rich 
and  the  poor  are  not  so  iax^^pm^d-^ixinl  each 
other  a&..th£jLare_in  Europe^j  Some  few  towns 
excepted,  we  anTall  tillers  of  the  earth,  from 
Nova  Scptia'TxrWest  Florida.    We  are  a  peo 
ple  of 'cultivator/  scattered  over  an  immense 
territory,  communicating  with  each  other  by- 
means  of  good  roads  and  navigable   rivers, 
united  by  the  silken  bands  of  mild  government, 
all  respecting  the  laws,  without  dreading  their 
power,  because  they  are  equitable.    We  are  all/ 
animated  with  the  spirit  of  ai\  industryiwhich  is 

fettered 


r 


(l 


50       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

unfettered  and  unrestrained,  because  each  per- 
\  son  works  for  himself.  If  he  travels  through 
\^.our  rural  districts  he  views  not  the  hostile 
castle,  and  the  haughty  mansion,  contrasted 
with  the  clay-built  hut  and  miserable  cabbin, 
where  cattle  and  men  help  to  keep  each  other 
warm,  and  dwell  in  meanness,  smoke,  and  in- 
I  digence.  Apleasing  uniformity  jjf  decent  com 
petence  appears^  throughout  our  habitations. 
The  meanest  of  our  log-houses  is  a  dry  and 
comfortable  habitation.  Lawyer  or  merchant 
are  the  fairest  titles  our  towns  afford;  that  of 
a  farmer  is  the  only  appellation  of  the  rural  in 
habitants  of  our  country.  It  must  take  some 
time  ere  he  can  reconcile  himself  to  our  dictio 
nary,  which  is  but  short  in  words  of  dignity, 
and  names  of  honour.  There,  on  a  Sunday,  he 
sees  a  congregation  of  respectable  farmers  and 
their  wives,  all  clad  in  neat  homespun,  well 
mounted,  or  riding  in  their  own  humble  wag 
gons.  There  is  not  among  them  an  esquire, 
saving  the  unlettered  magistrate.  There  he 
sees  a  parson  as  simple  as  his  flock,  a  farmer 
who  does  not  riot  on  the  labour  of  others. 
We  have  no  princes,  for  whom  we  toil,  starve, 
and  bleed:  we  are  the  most  perfect  society 
now  existing  in  the  world.  Here  man  is  free 
as  he  ought  to  be;  nor  is  this  pleasing  equality 
so  transitory  as  many  others  are.  Many  ages 

will 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       51 

will  not  see  the  shores  of  our  great  lakes  re 
plenished  with  inland  nations,  nor  the  unknown 
bounds  of  North  America  entirely  peopled. 
Who  can  tell  how  far  it  extends?  Who  can 
tell  the  millions  of  men  whom  it  will  feed  and 
contain?  for  no  European  foot  has  as  yet 
travelled  half  the  extent  of  this  mighty  conti 
nent! 

The  next  wish  of  this  traveller  will  be  to 
know  whence  came  all  these  people  ?  they 
a  mixture  of  English,  Scotch,  Irish, 
Dutch,  Germans,  and  Swedes.  From  this  pro 
miscuous  breed,  that  race  now  called  Americans 
have  arisen.  The  eastern  provinces  must  indeed 
be  excepted,  as  being  the  unmixed  descendents 
of  Englishmen.  I  have  heard  many  wish  that 
they  had  been  more  intermixed  also :  for  my 
part,  I  am  no  wisher,  and  think  it  much  better 
as  it  has  happened.  They  exhibit  a  most  con 
spicuous  figure  in  this  great  and  variegated 
picture;  they  too  enter  for  a  great  share  in 
the  pleasing  perspective  displayed  in  these  thir 
teen  provinces.  I  know  it  is  fashionable  to 
reflect  on  them,  but  I  respect  them  for  what 
they  have  done;  for  the  accuracy  and  wisdom 
with  which  they  have  settled  their  territory; 
for  the  decency  of  their  manners;  for  their 
early  love  of  letters;  their  ancient  college,  the 
first  in  this  hemisphere;  for  their  industry; 

which 


52       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

which  to  me  who  am  but  a  farmer,  is  the  cri 
terion  of  everything.     There  never  was  a  peo- 
'  pie,  situated  as  they  are,  who  with  so  ungrate- 

\    ful  a  soil  have  done  more  in  so  short  a  time. 

\  Do  you  think  that  the  monarchical  ingredients 
l^hich   are   more   prevalent   in   other   govern 
ments,  have  purged  them  from  all  foul  stains? 
Th.eir  histories  assert  the  contrary. 

In  this  great  American  asylum,  the  poor  of 
Europe  have  by  some  means  met  together,  and 
in  consequence  of  various  causes;  to  what  pur 
pose  should  they  ask  one  another  what  coun 
trymen  they~^fe?  AksTTwoTtriirds  of  them 
had  no  country.  Can  a  wretctTwho  wanders 
about^wficT works  and  starves,  whose  life  is  a 
continual  scene  of  sore  affliction  or  pinching 
penury;  can  that  man  call  England  or  any 
other  kingdom  his  country?  A  country  that 
had  no  bread  for  him,  whose  fields  procured 
him  no  harvest,  who  met  with  nothing  but  the 
frowns  of  the  rich,  the  severity  of  the  laws, 
with  jails  and  punishments;  who  owned  not  a 
single  foot  of  the  extensive  surface  of  this 

-  planet?  No!  urged^by  a  variety  of  motives, 
here  they  came.  f^Eyery  thing  has  tended  to 
regenerate  them;  new  laws,  a  new  mode  of 
living,  a  new  social  system;  here  they  are  be 
come  men:  in  Europe  they  were  as  so  many 
useless  plants,  wanting  vegitative  mould,  and 

refreshing 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       53 

refreshing  showers;  they  withered,  and  were 
mowed  down  by  want,  hunger,  and  war;  but 
now  by  the  power  of  transplantation,  like  all 
other^plants  they  have  taken  root  and  flour- 
ishedJ_J  Formerly  they  were  not  numbered  in 
any  civil  lists  of  their  country,  except  in  those 
of  the  poor;  here  they  rank  as  citizens.  By 
what  invisible  power  has  this  surprising  meta 
morphosis  been  performed?  By  that  of  the 
laws  and  that  of  their  industry.  The  laws,  the 
indulgent  laws,  protect  them  as  they  arrive, 
stamping  on  them  the  symbol  of  adoption;  they 
receive  ample  rewards  for  their  labours;  these 
accumulated  rewards  procure  them  lands;  those 
lands  confer  on  them  the  title  of  freemen,  and 
to  that  title  every  benefit  is  affixed  which  men 
can  possibly  require.  This  is  the  great  opera 
tion  daily  performed  by  our  laws.  From 
whence  proceed  these  laws?  From  our  gov 
ernment.  Whence  the  government?  It  is  de 
rived  from  the  original  genius  and  strong 
desire  of  the  people  ratified  and  confirmed  by 
the  crown.  This  is  the  great  chain  which  links 
us  all,  this  is  the  picture  which  every  province 
exhibits,  Nova  Scotia  excepted.  There  the 
crown  has  done  all ;  either  there  were  no  people 
who  had  genius,  or  it  was  not  much  attended 
to :  the  consequence  is,  that  the  province  is  very 
thinly  inhabited  indeed;  the  power  of  the  crown 

in 


54       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

in  conjunction  with  the  musketos  has  prevented 
men  from  settling  there.  Yet  some  parts  of 
it  flourished  once,  and  it  contained  a  mild 
harmless  set  of  people.  But  for  the  fault  of 
a  few  leaders,  the  whole  were  banished.  The 
greatest  political  error  the  crown  ever  com 
mitted  in  America,  was  to  cut  off  men  from  a 
country  which  wanted  nothing  but  men ! 
;~,What  attachment  can  a  poor  European  emi 
grant  have  for  a  country  where  he  had  no 
thing?  The  knowledge  of  the  language,  the 
love  of  a  few  kindred  as  poor  as  himself,  were 
the  only  cords  that  tied  him:  his  country  is 
now  that  which  gives  him  land,  bread,  pro 
jection,  and  consequence :  Ubi  panis  ibi  patria, 
i-is  the  motto  of  all  emigrants.  ^Yhat  then  is 
the  American,  this  new  man?  He  is  either  an 
European,  or  the  descendant  of  an  European, 
hence  that  strange  mixture  of  blood,  which 
you  will  find  in  no  other  country.  I  could 
{Tomt  out  to  you  a  family  whose  grandfather 
was  an  Englishman,  whose  wife  was  Dutch, 
whose  son  married  a  French  woman,  and  whose 
present  four  sons  have  now  four  wives  of  dif 
ferent  nations.  ^Heis  an  American,  who  leav 
ing  behind  him  all  his  ancient  prejudices  and 
manners,  receives  new  ones  from  the  new 
mode  of  life  he  has  embraced,  the  new  go- 
ernment  he  obeys,  and  the  new  rank  he  holds. 

He 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       55 

He  becomes  an  American  by  being- xoceiyed 
in  the  broad  lap  of  our  great  Alma  Mater. 
Here  Individuals  of  all  nations  are  melted  into 
a  new  race  of  men,  whose  labours  and  posteri 
ty  will  one  day  cause  great  changes  in  the 
world.  Americans  are  the  western  pilgrims, 
who  are  carrying  along  with  them  that  great 
mass  of  arts,  sciences,  vigour,  and  industry 
whictr'began  long  since  in  the  east;  they  will 
finish  the  great  circle.  The  Americans  were 
once  scattered  all  over  Europe;  here  they  are 
incorporated  into  one  of  the  finest  systems  of 
population  which  has  ever  appeared,  and  which 
will  hereafter  become  distinct  by  the  power  of 
the  different  climates  they  inhabit.  The  Amer 
ican  ought  therefore  to  love  this  country  much 
better  than  that  wherein  either  jie  or  his  fore 
fathers  were  born.  Here  the  fewar^o,fjiis  in 
dustry  follow  with  equal,  steps  The  progress" of 
his  ^aboTTyH^TS^^bour  is  founded  on  the  basis 
of  natrrr^  self -interest;  can  it  want  a  stronger 
allurement?  Wives  and  children,  who  before 
in  vain  demanded  of  him  a  morsel  of  bread, 
now,  fat  and  frolicsome,  gladly  help  their 
father  to  clear  those  fields  whence  exuberant 
crops  are  to  arise  to  feed  and  to  clothe  them 
all;  without  any  part  being  claimed,  either  by 
a  despotic  grince,  a  rich  abbot,  or  a  mighty 
lord.  Here  religion  demands  but  little  of  him ; 

a  small 


56       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

a  small  voluntary  salary  to  the  minister,  and 
gratitude  to  God;  can  he  refuse  these?    The 
JL  £—' American  is  a  new  man,  who  acts  upon  new  prin- 
^\jciples;  he  must  therefore  entertain  new  ideas, 
and   form   new  opinions.     From   involuntary 
idleness,  servile  dependence,  penury,  and  use 
less  labour,  he  has  passed  to  toils  of  a  very  dif 
ferent  nature,  rewarded  by  ample  subsistence. 
— This  is  an  American. 

British  America  is  divided  into  many  pro 
vinces,  forming  a  large  association,  scattered 
along  a  coast  1500  miles  extent  and  about  200 
wide.  This  society  I  would  fain  examine,  at 
least  such  as  it  appears  in  the  middle  provinces; 
if  it 'does  not  afford  that  variety  of  tinges  and 
gradations  which  may  be  observed  in  Europe, 
we  have  colours  peculiar  to  ourselves.  For 
instance,  it  is  natural  to  conceive  that  those  who 
live  near  the  sea,  must  be  very  different  from 
those  who  live  in  the  woods;  the  interme 
diate  space  will  afford  a  separate  and  distinct 
class. 

v  Sby      Men  are  likej^iants ;  the  goodness  and  fla- 
\  Jl  vour  oF  the  fruit  proceeds  from  the  peculiar 

soil  and  exposition  in  which  they  grow.  We 
are  nothing  but  what  we  derive  from  the  air 
we  breathe,  the  climate  we  inhabit,  the  go 
vernment  we  obey,  the  system  of  religion  we 
profess,  and  the  nature  of  our  employment. 

Here 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       57 

Here  you  will  find  but  few  crimes;  these  have 
acquired  as  yet  no  root  among  us.  I  wish  I 
were  able  to  trace  all  my  ideas;  if  my  igno 
rance  prevents  me  from  describing  them  pro 
perly,  I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  delineate  a 
few  of  the  outlines,  which  are  all  I  propose. 

Those  who  live^tiear  the  sea,  feed  more  on  I 
fish  than  on  flesh,  and  often  encounter  that 
boisterous  element.  This  renders  them  more  / 
bold  andjsnterprising;  this  leads  them  to  neg-y 
lect  the  confined  occupations  of  the_Jand. 
They  see  and  converse  with  a  variety  of  peo 
ple;  their  intercourse  with  mankind  becomes 
extensive.  The  sea  inspires  them  with  a  love 
of  traffic,  a  desire  of  transporting  produce 
from  one  place  to  another;  and  leads  them 
to  a  variety  of  resources  which  supply  the 
place  of  labour.  [Those  who  inhabit  the  mid-' 
die  settlements,  by  far  the  most  numerous,  \ 
must  be  very  ..difierent ;  the  simple  cultivation 
of  the  earth  ipimfiesjhem,  but  the  indulgences 
of  the  government,  the  soft  remonstrances  of 
religion,  the  rank  of  independent  freeholders, 
must  necessarily  inspire  them  with  sentiments, 
very  little  known  in  Europe  among  people  of 
the  same  class.  What  do  I  say?  Europe  has 
no  such  class  of  men;  the  early  knowledge 
they  acquire,  the  early  bargains  they  make, 
give  them  a  great  degree  of  sagacity.  As  free 
men 


58       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

men  they  will  be  litigious;  pride  and  obstinacy 
are  often  the  cause  of  law  suits;  the  nature  of 
our  laws  and  governments  may  be  another. 

\  As  citizens  it  is  easy  to  imagine,  that  they  will 
carefully  read  the  newspapers,  enter  into  every 
political  disquisition,  freely  blame  or  censure 
governors  and  others.  As  farmers  they  will 
be  earful  and  anxious  to  get  as  much  as  they 
can,  because  what  they  get  is  their  own.  As 
northern  men  they  will  love  the  chearful  cup. 
As  Christians,  religion  curbs  them  not  in  their 
opinions;  the  general  indulgence  leaves  every 
one  to  think  for  themselves  in  spiritual  matters; 
the  laws  inspect  our  actions,  our  thoughts  are 
left  to  God.  Industry,  good  living,  selfishness, 
litigiousness,  country  politics,  the  pride  of  free 
men,  religious  indifference,  are  their  charac 
teristics.  If  you  recede  still  farther  from  the 
sea,  you  will  come  into  more  modern  settle 
ments;  tjjey-exhtbit  the  same  strong  lineaments, 
in  a  rubier  appearance.  *  Religion  seems  to  have 
still  less  influence,  and  their  manners  are  less 
improved. 

Now  we  arrive  near  the  grfiaLJKPods,  near 
the  last  inhabited  districts;  there  men  seem  to 
be  placed  still  farther  beyond  the  reach  of 
government,  which  in  some  measure  leaves 
them  to  themselves.  How  can  it  pervade  every 

[  corner;  as  they  were  driven  there  by  misfor 
tunes, 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       59 

tunes,  necessity  of  beginnings,  desire  of  acquir 
ing  large  tracks  of  land,  idleness,  frequent 
want  of  oeconomy,  ancient  debts;  the  re-union 
of  such  people  does  not  afford  a  very  pleasing 
spectacle.  When  discord,  want  of  unity  and 
friendship ;  when  either  drunkenness  or  idleness 
prevail  in  such  remote  districts;  contention, 
inactivity,  and  wretchedness  must  ensue.  There 
are  not  the  same  remedies  to  these  evils  as  in  a 
long  established  community.  The  few  magis 
trates  they  have,  are  in  general  little  better  than 
the  rest;  they  are  often  in  a  perfect  state  of 
war;  that  of  man  against  man,  sometimes  de 
cided  by  blows,  sometimes  by  means  of  the 
law;  that  of  man  against  every  wild  inhabitant 
of  these  venerable  woods,  of  which  they  are 
come  to  dispossess  them.  There  men  appear  to 
be  no  beter  than  carnivorous^  animals  of  a 
supe_rior__rank,  living  on  the  flesh  of  wild  ani 
mals  when  they  can  catch  them,  and  when  they 
are  not  able,  they  subsist  on  grain.  He  who 
would  wish  to  see  America  in  its  proper  light, 
and  have  a  true  idea  of  its  feeble  beginnings 
and  barbarous  rudiments,  must  visit  our  ex 
tended  line  of  frontiers  where  the  last  settlers 
dwell,  and  where  he  may  see  the  first  labours  of 
settlement,  the  mode  of  clearing  the  earth,  in 
all  their  different  appearances;  where  men  are 
wholly  left  dependent  on  their  native  tempers, 

and 


60       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

and  on  the  spur  of  uncertain  industry,  which 
often  fails  when  not  sanctified  by  the  efficacy  of 
a  few  moral  rules.  There,  remote  from  the 
power  of  example,  and  check  of  shame,  many 
families  exhibit  the  most  hideous  parts  of  our 
society.  They  are  a  kind  of  forlorn  hope,  pre 
ceding  by  ten  or  twelve  years  the  most  respect 
able  army  of  veterans  which  come  after  them. 
In  that  space,  prosperity  will  polish  some,  vice 
and  the  law  will  drive  off  the  rest,  who  uniting 
again  with  others  like  themselves  will  recede 
still  farther;  making  room  for  more  industrious 
people,  who  will  finish  their  improvements, 
convert  the  loghouse  into  a  convenient  habi 
tation,  and  rejoicing  that  the  first  heavy  la 
bours  are  finished,  will  change  in  a  few  years 
that  hitherto  barbarous  country  into  a  fine  fer 
tile,  well  regulated  district.  Such  is  our  pro 
gress,  such  is  the  march  of  the  Europeans 
toward  the  interior  parts  of  this  continent. 
In  all  societies  there  are  off-casts;  this  impure 
part  serves  as  our  precursors  or  pioneers;  my 
father  himself  was  one  of  that  class,  but  he 
came  upon  honest  principles,  and  was  there 
fore  one  of  the  few  who  held  fast;  by  good 
conduct  and  temperance,  he  transmitted  to  me 
his  fair  inheritance,  when  not  above  one  in 
fourteen  of  his  contemporaries  had  the  same 
good  fortune. 

Forty 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       61 

Forty  years  ago  this  smiling  country  was  i 
thus  inhabited;   it  is  now  purged,   a   general 
decency  of  manners  prevails  throughout,  and  \ 
such  has  been  the  fate  of  our  best  countries.      / 

Exclusive  of  those  general  characteristics,/ 
each  province  has  its  own,  founded  on  the  go 
vernment,  climate,  mode  of  husbandry,  cus 
toms,  and  peculiarity  of  circumstances.  Eu 
ropeans  submit  insensibly  to  these  great 
powers,  and  become,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
generations,  not  only  Americans  in  general, 
but  either  Pensylvanians,  Virginians,  or  provin 
cials  under  some  other  name.  Whoever  tra 
verses  the  continent  must  easily  observe  those 
strong  differences,  which  will  grow  more  evi 
dent  in  time.  The  inhabitants  of  Canada, 
Massachuset,  the  middle  provinces,  the  south 
ern  ones  will  be  as  different  as  their  climates; 
their  only  points  of  unity  will  be  those  of  re 
ligion  and  language. 

As  I  have  endeavoured  to  shew  you  how 
Europeans  become  Americans;  it  may  not  be 
disagreeable  to  shew  you  likewise  how  the 
various  Christian  sects  introduced,  wear  out, 
and  how  religious  indifference  becomes  preva 
lent.  When  any  considerable  number  of  a 
particular  sect  happen  to  dwell  contiguous  to 
each  other,  they  immediately  erect  a  temple, 
and  there  worship  the  Divinity  agreeably  to 

their 


62       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

their  own  peculiar  ideas.  Nobody  disturbs 
them.  If  any  new  sect  springs  up  in  Europe, 
it  may  happen  that  many  of  its  professors  will 
come  and  settle  in  America.  As  they  bring 
their  zeal  with  them,  they  are  at  liberty  to 
make  proselytes  if  they  can,  and  to  build  a 
meeting  and  to  follow  the  dictates  of  their 
consciences;  for  neither  the  government  nor 
any  other  power  interferes.  If  they  are  peace 
able  subjects,  and  are  industrious,  what  is  it 
to  their  neighbours  how  and  in  what  manner 
they  think  fit  to  address  their  prayers  to  the 
Supreme  Being?  But  if  the  sectaries  are  not 
settled  close  together,  if  they  are  mixed  with 
other  denominations,  their  zeal  will  cool  for 
want  of  fuel^  and  will  be  extinguished  in  a  lit 
tle  time.  Then  the  Americans  become  as  to 
they  are  as  to  country,  allied 
In  them  the  name  of  Englishman, 
Frenchman,  and  European  is  lost,  and  in  like 
anner,  the  strict  modes  of  Christianity  as 
practised  in  Europe  are  lost  also.  This  effect 
will  extend  itself  still  farther  hereafter,  and 
though  this  may  appear  to  you  as  a  strange 
idea,  yet  it  is  a  very  true  one.  I  shall  be  able 
perhaps  hereafter  to  explain  myself  better,  in 
the  meanwhile,  let  the  following  example  serve 
as  my  first  justification. 

Let  us  suppose  you  and  I  to  be  travelling; 

we 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       63 

we  observe  that  in  this  house,  to  the  right,  lives 
a  Catholic,  who  prays  to  God  as  he  has  been 
taught,  and  believes  in  transubstantion ;  he 
works  and  raises  wheat,  he  has  a  large  family 
of  children,  all  hale  and  robust;  his  belief,  his 
prayers  offend  nobody.  About  one  mile  far 
ther  on  the  same  road,  his  next  neighbour  may 
be  a  good  honest  plodding  German  Lutheran, 
who  addresses  himself  to  the  same  God,  the 
God  of  all,  agreeably  to  the  modes  he  has  been 
educated  in,  and  believes  in  consubstantiation ; 
by  so  doing  he  scandalizes  nobody;  he  also 
works  in  his  fields,  embellishes  the  earth,  clears 
swamps,  &c.  What  has  the  world  to  do 
with  his  Lutheran  principles?  He  persecutes 
nobody,  and  nobody  persecutes  him,  he 
visits  his  neighbours,  and  his  neighbours  visit 
him.  Next  to  him  lives  a  seceder,  the  most 
enthusiastic  of  all  sectaries;  his  zeal  is  hot  and 
fiery,  but  separated  as  he  is  from  others  of  the 
same  complexion,  he  has  no  congregation  of 
his  own  to  resort  to,  where  he  might  cabal  and 
mingle  religious  pride  with  worldly  obstinacy. 
He  likewise  raises  good  crops,  his  house  is 
handsomely  painted,  his  orchard  is  one  of  the 
fairest  in  the  neighbourhood.  How  does  it 
concern  the  welfare  of  the  country,  or  of  the 
province  at  large,  what  this  man's  religious 
sentiments  are,  or  really  whether  he  has  any 

at 


64       WHAT)  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

at  all?  He  is  a  good  farmer,  he  is  a  sober, 
peaceable,  good  citizen:  William  Penn  him 
self  would  not  wish  for  more.  This  is  the 
visible  character,  the  invisible  one  is  only 
guessed  at,  and  is  nobody's  business.  Next 
again  lives  a  Low  Dutchman,  who  implicitly 
believes  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  synod  of 
Dort.  He  conceives  no  other  idea  of  a  clergy 
man  than  that  of  an  hired  man;  if  he  does  his 
work  well  he  will  pay  him  the  stipulated  sum; 
if  not  he  will  dismiss  him,  and  do  without  his 
sermons,  and  let  his  church  be  shut  up  for 
years.  But  notwithstanding  this  coarse  idea, 
you  will  find  his  house  and  farm  to  be  the 
neatest  in  all  the  country;  and  you  will  judge 
by  his  waggon  and  fat  horses,  that  he  thinks 
more  of  the  affairs  of  this  world  than  of  those 
of  the  next.  He  is  sober  and  laborious,  there 
fore  he  is  all  he  ought  to  be  as  to  the  affairs  of 
this  life;  as  for  those  of  the  next,  he  must  trust 
to  the  great  Creator.  Each  of  these  people  in 
struct  their  children  as  well  as  they  can,  but 
these  instructions  are  feeble  compared  to  those 
which  are  given  to  the_youth_~Qf_the  poorest 
class  mJ^uror^-JTheir  children  will  therefore 
grow  up  less  zealou$\and  more  indifferent  in 
matters  of  religion  than  their  parents.  The 
foolish  vanity,  or  rather  the  fury  of  making 
Proselytes,  is  unknown  here ;  they  have  no  time, 

the 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       65 

the  seasons  call  for  all  their  attention,  and  thus 
in  a  few  years,  this  mixed  neighbourhood  will 
exhibit  a  strange  religious  medley,  that  will  be 
neither  pure  Catholicism  nor  pure  Calvinism. 
A  very  perceptible  indifference  even  in  the  first 
generation,  will  become  apparent;  and  it  may 
happen  that  the  daughter  of  the  Catholic  will 
marry  the  son  of  the  seceder,  and  settle  by 
themselves  at  a  distance  from  their  parents. 
What  religious  education  will  they  give  their 
children?  A  very  imperfect  one.  If  there 
happens  to  be  in  the  neighbourhood  any  place 
of  worship,  we  will  suppose  a  Quaker's  meet 
ing;  rather  than  not  shew  their  fine  clothes, 
they  will  go  to  it,  and  some  of  them  may  per 
haps  attach  themselves  to  that  society.  Others 
will  remain  in  a  perfect  state  of  indifference; 
the  children  of  these  zealous  parents  will  not  be 
able  to  tell  what  their  religious  principles  are, 
and  their  grandchildren  still  less.  The  neigh 
bourhood  of  a  place  of  worship  generally  leads 
them  to  it,  and  the  action  of  going  thither,  is 
the  strongest  evidence  they  can  give  of  their  at 
tachment  to  any  sect.  The  Quakers  are  the, 
only  people  who  retain  a  fondness  for  their. 
own  mode  of  worship;  for  be  they  ever  so  fari 
separated  from  each  other,  they  hold  a  sort  of  j 
communion  with  the  society,  and  seldom  de- 1 
part  from  its  rules,  at  least  in  this  country/ 

Tfius 


13 


66       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 


\w 

f  • 


\T 
iVtRi 


Jhus  all  sects  are  mixed  as  well  as  all  nations; 

:  is  imperceptibly  dis 
seminated  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the 
other;  which  is  at  present  one >Q£  the  strongest 
characteristics  of  the  Americans-;?  Where  this 
will  reach  no  one  can  tell,  perhaps  it  may  leave 
a  vacuum  fit  to  receive  other  systems.  Persecu 
tion,  religious  pride,  the  love  of  contradiction, 
are  the  food  of  what  the  world  commonly  calls 
religion.  These  motives  have  ceased  here :  zeal 
in  Europe  is  confined;  here  it  evaporates  in 
the  great  distance  it  has  to  travel;  there  it  is 
a  grain  of  powder  inclosed,  here  it  burns  away 
in  the  open  air,  and  consumes  without  effect. 
,  But  to  return  to  our  back  settlers.  I  must 
tell  you,  that  there  is  something  in  the  prox 
imity  of  the  woods,  which  is  very  singular.  It 
is  with  men  as  it  is  with  the  plants  and  animals 
that  grow  and  live  in  the  forests;  they  are  en 
tirely  different  from  those  that  live  in  the  plains. 
I  will  candidly  tell  you  all  my  thoughts  but  you 
are  not  to  expect  that  I  shall  advance  any  rea 
sons.  By  living  in  or  near  the  woods,  their 
actions  are  regulated  by  the  wildness  of  the 
neighbourhood.  The  deer  often  come  to  eat 
their  grain,  the  wolves  to  destroy  their  sheep, 
the  bears  to  kill  their  hogs,  the  foxes  to  catch 
their  poultry.  This  surrounding  hostility,  im 
mediately  puts  the  gun  into  their  hands;  they 

watch 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       67 

watch  these  animals,  they  kill  some;  and  thus 
by  defending  their  property,  they  soon  become 
professed  hunters;  this  is  the  progress;  once 
hunters^farewell  Jo  the^lough.  The  chase 
renders  them  ferocious,  gloomy,  and  unso 
ciable  ;  a  hunter  wants  nojiei^ghbour,  he  rather 
hates  them,  because  he  dreads  the  competition. 
In  a  little  time  their  success  in  the  woods  makes 
them  neglect  their  tillage.  They  trust  to  the 
natural  fecundity  of  the  earth,  and  therefore  do 
little;  carelessness  in  fencing,  often  exposes 
what  little  they  sow  to  destruction;  they  are 
not  at  home  to  watch;  in  order  therefore  to 
make  up  the  deficiency,  they  go  oftener  to  the 
woods.  That  new  mode  of  life  brings  along 
with  it  a  new  set  of  manners,  which  I  cannot 
easily  describe.  These  new  manners  being 
grafted  on  the  old  stock,  produce  a  strange 
sort  of  lawless  profligacy,  the  impressions  of 
which  are  indelible.  The  manners  of  the  In 
dian  natives  are  respectable,  compared  with  this 
European  medley.  Their  wives  and  children 
live  in  sloth  and  inactivity;  and  having  no 
proper  pursuits,  you  may  judge  what  education 
the  latter  receive.  Their  tender  minds  have 
nothing  else  to  contemplate  but  the  example 
of  their  parents;  like  them  they  grow  up  a 
mongrel  breed,  half  civilired,  half  savage,  ex 
cept  nature  stamps  on  them  some  constitutional 

propensities. 


68       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

propensities.  That  rich,  that  voluptuous  senti 
ment  is  gone  that  struck  them  so  forcibly;  the 
possession  of  their  freeholds  no  longer  conveys 
to  their  minds  the  same  pleasure  and  pride.  To 
all  these  reasons  you  must  add,  their  lonely 
situation,  and  you  cannot  imagine  what  an  effect 
on  manners  the  great  distances  they  live  from 
each  other  has !  Consider  one  of  the  last  set 
tlements  in  it's  first  view:  of  what  is  it  com 
posed  ?  Europeans  who  have  not  that  sufficient 
share  of  knowledge  they  ought  to  have,  in 
order  to  prosper;  people  who  have  suddenly 
passed  from  oppression,  dread  of  government, 
and  fear  of  laws,  into  the  unlimited  freedom 
of  the  woods.  This  sudden  change  must  have 
a  very  great  effect  on  most  men,  and  on  that 
.class  particularly.  Eating  of  wild  meat,  what 
ever  you  may  think,  tends  to  alter  their  temper: 
though  all  the  proof  I  can  adduce,  is,  that  I 
have  seen  it:  and  having  no  place  of  worship 
to  resort  to,  what  little  society  this  might  afford, 
is  denied  them.  The  Sunday  meetings,  exclu 
sive  of  religious  benefits,  were  the  only  social 
bonds  that  might  have  inspired  them  with  some 
degree  of  emulation  in  neatness.  Is  it  then 
surprising  to  see  men  thus  situated,  immersed 
in  great  and  heavy  labours,  degenerate  a  little? 
It  is  rather  a  wonder  the  effect  is  not  more 
diffusive.  The  Moravians  and  the  Quakers 

are 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       69 

are  the  only  instances  in  exception  to  what 
I  have  advanced.  The  first  never  settle  singly, 
it  is  a  colony  of  the  society  which  emigrates; 
they  carry  with  them  their  forms,  worship, 
rules,  and  decency:  the  others  never  begin  so 
hard,  they  are  always  able  to  buy  improve 
ments,  in  which  there  is  a  great  advantage,  for 
by  that  time  the  country  is  recovered  from  its 
first  barbarity.  Thus  our  bad  people  are  those 
who  are  half  cultivators  and  half  hunters;  and  / 
the  worst  of  them  are  those  who  have  degen-' 
crated  altogether  into  the  hunting  state.  As 
old  ploughmen  and  new  men  of  the  woods,  as 
Europeans  and  new  made  Indians,  they  con 
tract  the  vices  of  both ;  they  adopt  the  morose- 
ness  and  ferocity  of  a  native,  without  his  mild^. 
ness,  or  even  his  industry  at  home.  If  manners  A 
are  not  refined,  at  least  they  are  rendered  sim-  J ' 
pie  and  inoffensive  by  tilling  the  earth;  all  our  \  ^ 
wants  are  supplied  by  it,  our  time  is  divided 
between  labour  and  rest,  and  leaves  none  for 
the  commission  of  great  misdeeds.  As  hunters  it 
is  divided  between  the  toil  of  the  chase,  the  idle* 
ness  of  repose,  or  the  indulgence  of  inebriation. 
Hunting  is  but  a  licentious  idle  life,  and  if  it 
does  not  always  pervert  good  dispositions ;  yet, 
when  it  is  united  with  bad  luck,  it  leads  to  want: 
want  stimulates  that  propensity  to  rapacity  and 
injustice,  too  natural  to  needy  men,  which  is 

the 


70       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

the  fatal  gradation.  After  this  explanation  of 
the  effects  which  follow  by  living  in  the  woods, 
shall  we  yet  vainly  flatter  ourselves  with  the 
hope  of  converting  the  Indians?  .  We  should 
Father  begin  with  converting  our  back-settlers; 
and  now  if  I  dare  mention  the  name  of  reli 
gion,  its  sweet  accents  would  be  lost  in  the 
immensity  of  these  woods.  Men  thus  placed, 
are  not  fit  either  to  receive  or  remember  its 
mild  instructions;  they  want  temples  and  minis 
ters,  but  as  soon  as  men  cease  to  remain  at 
home,  and  begin  to  lead  an  erratic  life,  let 
them  be  either  tawny  or  white,  they  cease  to 
be  its  disciples. 

Thus  have  I  faintly  and  imperfectly  endeav- 
voured  to  trace  our  society  from  the  sea  to 
our  woods !  yet  you  must  not  imagine  that  every 
person  who  moves  back,  acts  upon  the  same 
principles,  or  falls  into  the  same  degeneracy. 
Many  families  carry  with  them  all  their  de 
cency  of  conduct,  purity  of  morals,  and  respect 
of  religion;  but  these  are  scarce,  the  power  of 
example  is  sometimes  irresistible.  Even  among 
these  back-settlers,  their  depravity  is  greater 
or  less,  according  to  what  nation  or  province 
they  belong.  Were  I  to  adduce  proofs  of  this, 
I  might  be  accused  of  partiality.  If  there 
happens  to  be  some  rich  intervals,  some  fertile 
bottoms,  in  those  remote  districts,  the  people 

will 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       71 

will  there  prefer  tilling  the  land  to  hunting,  and 
will  attach  themselves  to  it;  but  even  on  these 
fertile  spots  you  may  plainly  perceive  the  inhabi 
tants  to  acquire  a  great  degree  of  rusticity  and 
selfishness. 

It  is  in  consequence  of  this  straggling  situa 
tion,  and  the  astonishing  power  it  has  on  man 
ners,  that  the  back-settlers  of  both  the  Caro- 
linas,  Virginia,  and  many  other  parts,  have 
been  long  a  set  of  lawless  people;  it  has  been 
even  dangerous  to  travel  among  them.  Gov 
ernment  can  do  nothing  in  so  extensive  a 
country,  better  it  should  wink  at  these  irregu 
larities,  than  that  it  should  use  means  incon 
sistent  with  its  usual  mildness.  Time  will  ef 
face  those  stains:  in  proportion  as  the  great 
body  of  population  approaches  them  they  will 
reform,  and  become  polished  and  subordinate. 
Whatever  has  been  said  of  the  four  New- 
England  provinces,  no  such  degeneracy  of  man 
ners  has  ever  tarnished  their  annals;  their 
back-settlers  have  been  kept  within  the  bounds 
of  decency,  and  government,  by  means  of 
wise  laws,  and  by  the  influence  of  religion. 
What  a  detestable  idea  such  people  must  have 
given  to  the  natives  of  the  Europeans !  They 
trade  with  them,  the  worst  of  people  are  per 
mitted  to  do  that  which  none  but  persons  of  the 
best  characters  should  be  employed  in.  They 

get 


72       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

get  drunk  with  them,  and  often  defraud  the 
Indians.  Their  avarice,  removed  from  the  eyes 
of  their  superiors,  knows  no  bounds;  and  aided 
by  a  little  superiority  of  knowledge,  these 
traders  deceive  them,  and  even  sometimes  shed 
blood.  Hence  those  shocking  violations,  those 
sudden  devastations  which  have  so  often 
stained  our  frontiers,  when  hundreds  of  inno 
cent  people  have  been  sacrificed  for  the  crimes 
of  a  few.  It  was  in  consequence  of  such  be 
haviour,  that  the  Indians  took  the  hatchet 
against  the  Virginians  in  1774.  Thus  are  our 
first  steps  trod,  thus  are  our  first  trees  felled,  in 
general,  by  the  most  vicious  of  our  people;  and 
thus  the  path  is  opened  for  the  arrival  of  a  sec 
ond  and  better  class,  the  true  American  free 
holders;  the  most  respectable  set  of  people  in 
this  part  of  the  world :  respectable  for  their  in 
dustry,  their  happy  independence,  the  great 
share  of  freedom  they  possess,  the  good  regula- 
tion  of_theJ£~ -£ainilLe_s^,, and  for  extending  the 
tracfe  and  the  dominion  of  our  mother  country. 
Europe  contains  hardly  any  other  distinc 
tions  but  lords  and  tgnaatss  this  fair  country 
alone  is  settled  b^ffreeholderSr. the  possessors  of 
the  soil  they  cultivate,  members  of  the  govern 
ment  they  obey,  and  the  framers  of  their  own 
laws,  by  means  of  their  representatives.  This 
is  a  thought  which  you  have  taught  me  to 

cherish 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.        73 

cherish;  our  difference  from  Europe,  far  from  || 
diminishing,  rather  adds  to  our  usefulness  and  11 
consequence  as  men  and  subjects.  Had  our 
forefathers  remained  there,  they  would  only 
have  crouded  it,  and  perhaps  prolonged  those 
convulsions  which  had  shook  it  so  long.  Every 
industrious  European  who  transports  himself 
here,  may  be  compared  to  a  sprout  growing 
at  the  foot  of  a  great  tree;  it  enjoys  and  draws 
but  a  little  portion  of  sap;  wrench  it  from  the 
parent  roots,  transplant  it,  and  it  will  become 
a  tree  bearing  fruit  also.  Colonists  are  there 
fore  entitled  to  the  consideration  due  to  the 
most  useful  subjects;  a  hundred  families  barely 
existing  in  some  parts  of  Scotland,  will  here  in 
six  years,  cause  an  annual  exportation  of 
10,000  bushels  of  wheat :  100  bushels  being  but  / 
a  common  quantity  for  an  industrious  family  to 
sell,  if  they  cultivate  good  land.  It  is  here  then 
that  the  idle  may  be  employed,  the  useless  be 
come  useful,  and  the  poor  become  rich ;  but  by 
riches  I  do  not  mean  gold  and  silver,  we  have 
but  little  of  those  metals;  I  mean  a  better  sort 
of  wealth,  cleared  lands,  cattle,  good  houses, 
good  cloaths,  and  an  increase  of  people  to  enjoy 
them. 

There  is  no  wonder  that  this  country  has 
so  many  charms,  and  presents  to  Europeans  so 
many  temptations  to  remain  in  it.  A  traveller 

in 


V 


74       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

in  Europe  becomes  a  stranger  as  soon  as  he 
quits  his  own  kingdom ;  but  it  is  otherwise  here. 

/We  know,  properly  speaking,  no  strangers; 
this  is  every  person's  country;  the  variety  of  our 
soils,  situations,  climates,  governments,  and 

\produce,  hath  something  which  must  please 
y  body.  No  sooner  does  an  European  ar 
rive,  no  matter  of  what  condition,  than  his  eyes 
are  opened  upon  the  fair  prospect;  he  hears  his 
language  spoke,  he  retraces  many  of  his  own 
country  manners,  he  perpetually  hears  the 
names  of  families  and  towns  with  which  he  is 
acquainted;  he  sees  happiness  and  prosperity 
in  all  places  disseminated;  he  meets  with  hos 
pitality,  kindness,  and  plenty  every  where;  he 
beholds  hardly  any  poor,  he  seldom  hears  of 
punishments  and  executions ;  and  he  wonders  at 
the  elegance  of  our  towns,  those  miracles  of 
industry  and  freedom.  He  cannot  admire 
enough  our  rural  districts,  our  convenient 
roads,  good  taverns,  and  our  many  accommoda 
tions;  he  involuntarily  loves  a  country  where 
every  thing  is  so  lovely.  When  in  England, 
he  was  a  mere  Englishman;  here  he  stands 
on  a  larger  portion  of  the  globe,  not  less  than 
its  fourth  part,  and  may  see  the  productions 
of  the  north,  in  iron  and  naval  stores;  the  pro 
visions  of  Ireland,  the  grain  of  Egypt,  the 
indigo,  the  rice  of  China.  He  does  not  find,  as 

in 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       75 

in  Europe,  a  crouded  society,  where  every  place 
is  over-stocked ;  he  does  not  feel  that  perpetual 
collision  of  parties,  that  difficulty  of  beginning, 
that  contention  which  oversets  so  many.  Theje 
is  room  for  every  body  in  Amenta ;  has  he  any  ^--£ 
particular  talent,  or  industry?hc  exerts  it  in///' 
order  to  procure  a  livelihood,  and  it  succeeds.  ' 
Is  he  a  merchant?  the  avenues  of  trade  are 
infinite;  is  he  eminent  in  any  respect?  he  will 
be  employed  and  respected.  DoesJhe^Jove  a- 
country  life? pWsaqt  farms  presp-nf  them 
selves  ;  he  may  purcha^j^at^Jhejwants,  and 
thereby  become  an  American  farmer.  Is  he  a 
labourer,  sober  and  industrious?  he  need  not 
go  many  miles,  nor  receive  many  informations 
before  he  will  be  hired,  well  fed  at  the  table  of 
his  employer,  and  paid  four  or  five  times  more 
than  he  can  get  in  Europe.  Does  he  want  un 
cultivated  lands?  thousands  of  acres  present 
themselves,  which  he  may  purchase  cheap. 
Whatever  be  his  talents  or  inclinations,  if  they 
are  moderate,  he  may  satisfy  them.  I  do  not 
mean  that  every  one  who  comes  will  grow  rich 
in  a  little  time ;  no,  but  he  may  procure  an  easy, 
decent  maintenance^  by  his  industry.  Instead 
of  starving  he  will  be  fed,  instead  of  being  idle 
he  will  have  employment;  and  these  are  riches 
enough  for  such  men  as  come  over  here.  The 
rich  stay  in  Europe,  it  is  only  the  middling  and 

the 


\ 


76       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

the  poor  that  emigrate.  Would  you  wish  to 
travel  in  independent  idleness,  from  north  to 
south,  you  will  find  easy  access,  and  the  most 
chearful  reception  at  every  house ;  society  with 
out  ostentation,  good  cheer  without  pride,  and 
every  decent  diversion  which  the  country  af 
fords,  with  little  expence.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  the  European  who  has  lived  here  a  few 
years,  is  desirous  to  remain;  Europe  with 'all 
its  pomp,  is  not  to  be  compared  to  this  conti 
nent,  for  men  of  middle  stations,  or  labourers. 

An  European,  when  he  first  arrives,  seems 
limited  in  his  intentions,  as  well  as  in  his  views; 
but  he  very  suddenly  alters  his  scale ;  two  hun 
dred  miles  formerly  appcare_d_a  very  great  dis 
tance,  it  is  now  but  a  trifle;  he  no  sooner 
breathes  our~air  tharT  he  forms  schemes,  and 
embarks  in  Designs  he  never  would  have 
thought  of  in  his  own  country.  There  the 
plenitude  of  society  confines  many  useful  ideas, 
and  often  extinguishes  the  most  laudable 
schemes  which  here  ripen  into  maturity.  Thus 
Europeans  become  Americans. 

But  how  is  this  accomplished  in  that  croud 
of  low,  indigent  people,  who  flock  here  every 
year  from  all  parts  of  Europe?  I  will  tell  you; 
they  no  sooner  arrive  than  they  immediately 
feel  the  good  effects  of  that  plenty  of  provisions 
we  possess:  they  fare  on  our  best  food,  and 

the 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       77 

are  kindly  entertained;  their  talents,  charac 
ter,  and  peculiar  industry  are  immediately  in 
quired  into ;  they  find  countrymen  every  where 
disseminated,  let  them  come  from  whatever 
part  of  Europe.  Let  me  select  one  as  an  epi 
tome  of  the  rest;  he  is  hired,  he  goes  to  work, 
and  works  moderately;  instead  of  being  em 
ployed  by  a  haughty  person,  he  finds  himself 
with  his  equal,  placed  at  the  substantial  table  of 
the  farmer,  or  else  at  an  inferior  one  as  good; 
his  wages  are  high,  his  bed  is  not  like  that  bed 
of  sorrow  on  which  he  used  to  lie:  if  he  be 
haves  with  propriety,  and  is  faithful,  he  is 
caressed,  and  becomes  as  it  were  a  member  of 
the  family.  He  begins  to  feel  the  effects  of  a 
sort  of  resurrection;  hitherto  he  had  not  lived, 
but  simply^vegetated;  he  now  feels  himself  a 
man,  because  he  ijftreated  as  such;  the  laws  of 
his  own  country  had  overlooked  him  in  his  in 
significancy;  the  laws  of  this  cover  him  with 
their  mantle.  Judge  what  an  alteration  there 
must  arise  in  the  mind  and  thoughts  of  this 
man;  he  begins  to  forget  his  former  servitude 
and  dependence,  his  heart  involuntarily  swells 
and  glows;  this  first  swell  inspires  him  with 
those  new  thoughts  which  constitute  an  Ameri 
can.  What  love  can  he  entertain  for  a  country  ' 
where  his  existence  was  a  burthen  to  him;  if  he 
is  a  generous  good  man,  the  love  of  this  new 

adoptive 


78       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 


a 
H 


adoptive  parent  will  sink  deep  into  his  heart. 
e  looks  around,  and  sees  many  a  prosperous 
person,  who  but  a  few  years  before  was  as  poor 
as  himself.  This  encourages  him  much,  he 
begins  to  form  some  little  scheme,  the  first, 
alas,  he  ever  formed  in  his  life.  If  he  is  wise 
he  thus  spends  two  or  three  years,  in  which 
time  he  acquires  knowledge,  the  use  of  tools, 
the  modes  of  working  the  lands,  felling  trees, 
&c.  This  prepares  the  foundation  of  a  good 
name,  the  most  useful  acquisition  he  can  make. 
He  is  encouraged,  he  has  gained  friends;  he 
is  advised  and  directed,  he  feels  bold,  he  pur 
chases  some  land;  he  gives  all  the  money  he 
has  brought  over,  as  well  as  what  he  has 
earned,  and  trusts  to  the  God  of  harvests  for 
the  discharge  of  the  rest.  His  good  name  pro 
cures  him  credit.  He  is  now  possessed  of  the 
deed,  conveying  to  him  and  his  posterity  the  fee 
simple  and  absolute  property  of  two  hun 
dred  acres  of  land,  situated  on  such  a  river. 
What  an  epocha  in  this  man's  life!  He  is  be 
come  a  freeholder,  from  perhaps  a  German 
boor  —  he  is  now  an  American,  a  Pennsyl- 
vanian,  an  English  subject.  He  is  naturalized, 
his  name  is  enrolled  with  those  of  the  other 
citizens  of  the  province.  Instead  of  being  a 
vagrant,  he  has  a«  place  of  residence;  he  is 
the  inhabrtl^j3tSu3i_a  county,  or  of 

suth 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       79 

such  a  district,  and  for  the  first  time  in  his  life 
counts  for  something;  for  hitherto  he  has  been 
a  cypher.  I  only  repeat  what  I  have  heard 
many  say,  and  no  wonder  their  hearts  should 
glow,  and  be  agitated  with  a  multitude  of  feel 
ings,  not  easy  to  describe.  From  nothing  to 
start  into  being;  from  a  servant  to  the  rank  of 
a  master;  from  being  the  slave  of  some  despotic 
prince,  to  become  a  free  man,  invested  with 
lands,  to  which  every  municipal  blessing  is  an 
nexed  !  What  a  change  indeed !  It  is  in  con 
sequence  of  that  ch.ang€-that^he  becomes  an 
American,  (This "great metamorphosis  has  a 
double  effect,  it  extinguishes  all  Tii5~ijuropean 
prejudices,  he  forgets  that  mechanism  oF^suh-. 
ordination,  that  servility  of  disposition  which 
povertyKad  taught  him;  and  sometimes  he  is 
apt  to  forget  too  much,  often  passing  from  one  p\,^"~ 

extreme  to  the  other,  j  If  he  is  a  good  man,  he  \/\s 

forms  schemes  ofTuture  prosperity,  he  proposes    |  _r 

to  educate  "his  children  better  than  he  has  been  <  { ^ 
educated  himself;  he  thinks  of  future  modes 
of  conduct,  feels  an  ardor  to  labour  he  never 
felt  before.  Pride  steps  in  and  leads  him  to 
every  thing  that  the  laws  do  not  forbid:  he 
respects  them;  with  a  heart- felt  gratitude  he 
looks  towarcl  the  east,  toward  that  insular 
government  from  whose  wisdom  all  his  new 
felicity  is  derived,  and  under  whose  wings  and 

protection 


So       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

protection  he  now  lives.  These  reflections  con 
stitute  him  the  good  man  and  the  good  subject. 
Ye  poor  Europeans,  ye,  who  sweat,  and  work 
for  the  great — ye,  who  are  obliged  to  give  so 
many  sheaves  to  the  church,  so  many  to  your 
lords,  so  many  to  your  government,  and  have 
hardly  any  left  for  yourselves — ye,  who  are 
held  in  less  estimation  than  favourite  hunters  or 
useless  lap-dogs — ye,  who  only  breathe  the  air 
of  nature,  because  it  cannot  be  withheld  from 
you;  it  is  here  that  ye  can  conceive  the  pos 
sibility  of  those  feelings  I  have  been  describing; 
it  is  here  the  laws  of  naturalization  invite  every 
one  to  partake  of  our  great  labours  and  fe 
licity,  to  till  unrented,  untaxed  lands!  Many, 
corrupted  beyond  the  power  of  amendment, 
have  brought  with  them  all  their  vices,  and 
disregarding  the  advantages  held  to  them,  have 
gone  on  in  their  former  career  of  iniquity,  until 
they  have  been  overtaken  and  punished  by  our 
laws.  It  is  not  every  emigrant  who  succeeds; 
no,  it  is  only  the  sober,  the  honest,  and  in 
dustrious:  happy  those  to  whom  this  transi 
tion  has  served  as  a  powerful  spur  to  labour, 
to  prosperity,  and  to  the  good  establishment  of 
children,  born  in  the  days  of  their  poverty; 
and  who  had  no  other  portion  to  expect  but  the 
rags  of  their  parents,  had  it  not  been  for  their 
happy  emigration.  Others  again,  have  been 

led 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       81 

led  astray  by  this  enchanting  scene;  their  new 
pride,  instead  of  leading  them  to  the  fields,  has 
kept  them  in  idleness;  the  idea  of  possessing 
lands  is  all  that  satisfies  them — though  sur 
rounded  with  fertility,  they  have  mouldered 
away  their  time  in  inactivity,  misinformed  hus 
bandry,  and  ineffectual  endeavours.  How  much 
wiser,  in  general,  the  honest  Germans  than 
almost  all  other  Europeans;  they  hire  them 
selves  to  some  of  their  wealthy  landsmen,  and 
in  that  apprenticeship  learn  every  thing  that 
is  necessary.  They  attentively  consider  the 
prosperous  industry  of  others,  which  imprints 
in  their  minds  a  strong  desire  of  possessing  the 
same  advantages.  This  forcible  idea  never 
quits  them,  they  launch  forth,  and  by  dint  of 
sobriety,  rigid  parsimony,  and  the  most  perse 
vering  industry,  they  commonly  succeed.  Their 
astonishment  at  their  first  arrival  from  Ger 
many  is  very  great — it  is  to  them  a  dream ;  the 
contrast  must  be  powerful  indeed;  they  ob 
serve  their  countrymen  flourishing  in  every 
place ;  they  travel  through  whole  counties  where 
not  a  word  of  English  is  spoken;  and  in  the 
names  and  the  language  of  the  people,  they 
retrace  Germany.  They  have  been  an  useful 
acquisition  to  this  continent,  and  to  Pennsyl 
vania  in  particular;  to  them  it  owes  some  share 
of  its  prosperity :  to  their  mechanical  knowledge 

and 


82       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

and  patience,  it  owes  the  finest  mills  in  all 
America,  the  best  teams  of  horses,  and  many 
other  advantages.  The  recollection  of  their 
former  poverty  and  slavery  never  quits  them 
as  long  as  they  live. 

The  Scotch  and  the  Irish  might  have  lived  in 
their  own  country  perhaps  as  poor,  but  enjoy 
ing  more  civil  advantages,  the  effects  of  their 
new  situation  do  not  strike  them  so  forcibly, 
nor  has  it  so  lasting  an  effect.  From  whence 
the  difference  arises  I  know  not,  but  out  of 
families  of  emigrants  of  each  country, 
seven  Scotch  will  succeed,  nine  Ger 
man,  and  four  Irish.  The  Scotch  are  frugal 
and  laborious,  but  their  wives  cannot  work  so 
hard  as  German  women,  who  on  the  contrary 
vie  with  their  husbands,  and  often  share  with 
them  the  most  severe  toils  of  the  field,  which 
they  understand  better.  They  have  therefore 
nothing  to  struggle  against,  but  the  common 
casualties  of  nature.  The  Irish  do  not  prosper 
so  well ;  they  love  to  drink  and  to  quarrel ;  they 
are  litigious,  and  soon  take  to  the  gun,  which  is 
the  ruin  of  every  thing;  they  seem  beside  to  la 
bour  under  a  greater  degree  of  ignorance  in 
husbandry  than  the  others;  perhaps  it  is  that 
their  industry  had  less  scope,  and  was  less  ex 
ercised  at  home.  I  have  heard  many  relate, 
how  the  land  was  parcelled  out  in  that  king 
dom; 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       83 

dom;  their  ancient  conquest  has  been  a  great 
detriment  to  them,  by  over-setting  their  landed 
property.  The  lands  possessed  by  a  few,  are 
leased  down  ad  infinitum,  and  the  occupiers 
often  pay  five  guineas  an  acre.  The  poor  are 
worse  lodged  there  than  any  where  else  in 
Europe;  their  potatoes,  which  are  easily  raised, 
are  perhaps  an  inducement  to  laziness:  their 
wages  are  too  low  and  their  whisky  too  cheap. 

There  is  no  tracing  observations  of  this  kind, 
without  making  at  the  same  time  very  great 
allowances,  as  there  are  every  where  to  be 
found,  a  great  many  exceptions.  The  Irish 
themselves,  from  different  parts  of  that  king 
dom,  are  very  different.  It  is  difficult  to  ac 
count  for  this  surprising  locality,  one  would 
think  on  so  small  an  island  an  Irishman  must 
be  an  Irishman:  yet  it  is  not  so,  they  are  dif 
ferent  in  their  aptitude  to,  and  in  their  love 
of  labour. 

The  Scotch  on  the  contrary  are  all  industri 
ous  and  saving;  they  want  nothing  more  than 
a  field  to  exert  themselves  in,  and  they  are  com 
monly  sure  of  succeeding.  The  only  difficulty 
they  labour  under  is,  that  technical  Ameri 
can  knowledge  which  requires  some  time  to 
obtain ;  it  is  not  easy  for  those  who  seldom  saw 
a  tree,  to  conceive  how  it  is  to  be  felled,  cut 
up,  and  split  into  rails  and  posts. 

As 


o 


84       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

As  I  am  fond  of  seeing  and  talking  of  pros 
perous  families,  I  intend  to  finish  this  letter 
by  relating  to  you  the  history  of  an  honest 
Scotch  Hebridean,  who  came  here  in  1774, 
which  will  shew  you  in  epitome,  what  the 
Scotch  can  do,  wherever  they  have  room  for 
the  exertion  of  their  industry.  Whenever  I 
hear  of  any  new  settlement,  I  pay  it  a  visit  once 
or  twice  a  year,  on  purpose  to  observe  the  dif 
ferent  steps  each  settler  takes,  the  gradual 
improvements,  the  different  tempers  of  each 
family,  on  which  their  prosperity  in  a  great 
nature  depends;  their  different  modifications 
of  industry,  their  ingenuity,  and  contrivance; 
for  being  all  poor,  their  life  requires  sagacity 
and  prudence.  In  an  evening  I  love  to  hear 
them  tell  their  stories,  they  furnish  me  with 
new  ideas;  I  sit  still  and  listen  to  their  an 
cient  misfortunes,  observing  in  many  of  them 
a  strong  degree  of  gratitude  to  God,  and  the 
government.  Many  a  well  meant  sermon  have 
I  preached  to  some  of  them.  When  I  found 
laziness  and  inattention  to  prevail,  who  could 
refrain  from  wishing  well  to  these  new  country 
men  ;  after  having  undergone  so  many  fatigues. 
Who  could  withhold  good  advice?  What  a 
happy  change  it  must  be,  to  descend  from  the 
high,  sterile,  bleak  lands  of  Scotland,  where 
every  thing  is  barren  and  cold,  to  rest  on 

some 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       85 

some  fertile  farms  in  these  middle  provinces  I 
Such  a  transition  must  have  afforded  the  most 
pleasing  satisfaction. 

The  following  dialogue  passed  at  an  out- 
settlement,  where  I  lately  paid  a  visit : 

Well,  friend,  how  do  you  do  now;  I  am 
come  fifty  odd  miles  on  purpose  to  see  you; 
how  do  you  go  on  with  your  new  cutting  and 
slashing?  Very  well,  good  Sir,  we  learn  the 
use  of  the  axe  bravely,  we  shall  make  it  out; 
we  have  a  belly  full  of  victuals  every  day,  our 
cows  run  about,  and  come  home  full  of  milk, 
our  hogs  get  fat  of  themselves  in  the  woods: 
Oh,  this  is  a  good  country !  God  bless  the  king, 
and  William  Penn;  we  shall  do  very  well  by 
and  by,  if  we  keep  our  healths.  Your  log- 
house  looks  neat  and  light,  where  did  you  get 
these  shingles?  One  of  our  neighbours  is  a 
New-England  man,  and  he  shewed  us  how  to 
split  them  out  of  chestnut-trees.  Now  for  a 
barn,  but  all  in  good  time,  here  are  fine  trees 
to  build  with.  Who  is  to  frame  it,  sure  you 
don't  understand  that  work  yet?  A  country 
man  of  ours  who  has  been  in  America  these 
ten  years,  offers  to  wait  for  his  money  until 
the  second  crop  is  lodged  in  it.  What  did  you 
give  for  your  land?  Thirty-five  shillings  per 
acre,  payable  in  seven  years.  How  many  acres 
have  you  got?  An  hundred  and  fifty.  That  is 

enough 


86       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

enough  to  begin  with;  is  not  your  land  pretty 
hard  to  clear?  Yes,  Sir,  hard  enough, ,  but  it 
would  be  harder  still  if  it  was  ready  cleared, 
for  then  we  should  have  no  timber,  and  I  love 
the  woods  much;  the  land  is  nothing  without 
them.  Have  not  you  found  out  any  bees  yet? 
No,  Sir;  and  if  we  had  we  should  not  know 
what  to  do  with  them.  I  will  tell  you  by  and 
by.  You  are  very  kind.  Farewell,  honest  man, 
God  prosper  you ;  whenever  you  travel  toward 
**,  enquire  for  J.  S.  he  will  entertain  you 
kindly,  provided  you  bring  him  good  tidings 
from  your  family  and  farm.  In  this  manner  I 
often  visit  them,  and  carefully  examine  their 
houses,  their  modes  of  ingenuity,  their  different 
ways;  and  make  them  all  relate  all  they  know, 
and  describe  all  they  feel.  These  are  scenes 
which  I  believe  you  would  willingly  share  with 
me.  I  well  remember  your  philanthropic  turn 
of  mind.  Is  it  not  better  to  contemplate  under 
these  humble  roofs,  the  rudiments  of  future 
wealth  and  population,  than  to  behold  the  ac 
cumulated  bundles  of  litigious  papers  in  the 
office  of  a  lawyer?  To  examine  how  the  world 
is  gradually  settled,  how  the  howling  swamp  is 
converted  into  a  pleasing  meadow,  the  rough 
ridge  into  a  fine  field;  and  to  hear  the  chear- 
ful  whistling,  the  rural  song,  where  there  was 
no  sound  heard  before,  save  the  yell  of  the  sav 
age, 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       87 

age,  the  screech  of  the  owl,  or  the  hissing  of 
the  snake?  Here  an  European,  fatigued  with 
luxury,  riches,  and  pleasures,  may  find  a  sweet 
relaxation  in  a  series  of  interesting  scenes,  as  af 
fecting  as  they  are  new.  England,  which  now 
contains  so  many  domes,  so  many  castles,  was 
once  like  this;  a  place  woody  and  marshy;  its 
inhabitants,  now  the  favourite  nation  for  arts 
and  commerce,  were  once  painted  like  our 
neighbours.  The  country  will  flourish  in  its 
turn,  and  the  same  observations  will  be  made 
which  I  have  just  delineated.  Posterity  will 
look  back  with  avidity  and  pleasure,  to  trace, 
if  possible,  the  aera  of  this  or  that  particular 
settlement. 

Pray,  what  is  the  reason  that  the  Scots 
are  in  general  more  religious,  more  faithful, 
more  honest,  and  industrious  than  the  Irish? 
I  do  not  mean  to  insinuate  national  reflections, 
God  forbid!  It  ill  becomes  any  man,  and 
much  less  an  American;  but  as  I  know  men 
are  nothing  of  themselves,  and  that  they  owe 
all  their  different  modifications  either  to  gov 
ernment  or  other  local  circumstances,  there 
must  be  some  powerful  causes  which  constitute 
this  great  national  difference. 

Agreeable  to  the  account  which  severale 
Scotchmen  -have  given  me  of  the  north  of 
Britain,  of  the  Orkneys,  and  the  Heb'ride 

Islands, 


88       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

Islands,  they  seem,  on  many  accounts,  to  be 
unfit  for  the  habitation  of  men;  they  appear 
to  be  calculated  only  for  great  sheep  pastures. 
Who  then  can  blame  the  inhabitants  of  these 
countries  for  transporting  themselves  hither? 
This  great  continent  must  in  time  absorb  the 
poorest  part  of  Europe;  and  this  will  happen 
in  proportion  as  it  becomes  better  known; 
and  as  war,  taxation,  oppression,  and  misery 
increase  there.  The  Hebrides  appear  to  be 
fit  only  for  the  residence  of  malefactors,  and  it 
would  be  much  better  to  send  felons  there  than 
either  to  Virginia  or  Maryland.  What  a 
strange  compliment  has  our  mother  country 
paid  to  two  of  the  finest  provinces  in  America ! 
England  has  entertained  in  that  respect  very 
mistaken  ideas;  what  was  intended  as  a  punish 
ment,  is  become  the  good  fortune  of  several; 
many  of  those  who  have  been  transported  as 
felons,  are  now  rich,  and  strangers  to  the 
stings  of  those  wants  that  urged  them  to  vio 
lations  of  the  law:  they  are  become  industri 
ous,  exemplary,  and  useful  citizens.  The 
English  government  should  purchase  the  most 
northern  and  barren  of  those  islands;  it  should 
send  over  to  us  the  honest,  primitive  Hebri- 
deans,  settle  them  here  on  good  lands,  as  a 
reward  for  their  virtue  and  ancient  poverty; 
and  replace  them  with  a  colony  of  her  wicked 

sons. 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       89 

sons.  The  severity  of  the  climate,  the  inclem 
ency  of  the  seasons,  the  sterility  of  the  soil, 
the  tempestuousness  of  the  sea,  would  afflict  and 
punish  enough.  Could  there  be  found  a  spot 
better  adapted  to  retaliate  the  injury  it  had 
received  by  their  crimes?  Some  of  those 
islands  might  be  considered  as  the  hell  of  Great 
Britian,  where  all  evil  spirits  should  be  sent. 
Two  essential  ends  would  be  answered  by  this 
simple  operation.  The  good  people,  by  emi 
gration,  would  be  rendered  happier;  the  bad 
ones  would  be  placed  where  they  ought  to  be. 
In  a  few  years  the  dread  of  being  sent  to  that 
wintry  region  would  have  a  much  stronger 
effect,  than  that  of  transportation. — This  is 
no  place  of  punishment;  were  I  a  poor  hope 
less,  breadless  Englishman,  and  not  restrained 
by  the  power  of  shame,  I  should  be  very  thank 
ful  for  the  passage.  It  is  of  very  little  impor 
tance  how,  and  in  what  manner  an  indigent  man 
arrives;  for  if  he  is  but  sober,  honest,  and  in-! 
dustrious,  he  has  nothing  more  to  ask  of 
heaven.  Let  him  go  to  work,  he  will  have  op 
portunities  enough  to  earn  a  comfortable  sup 
port,  and  even  the  means  of  procuring  some 
land;  which  ought  to  be  the  utmost  wish  of 
every  person  who  has  health  and  hands  to  work. 
I  knew  a  man  who  came  to  this  country,  in 
the  literal  sense  of  the  expression,  stark  naked; 

I  think 


90       WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN. 

I  think  he  was  a  Frenchman,  and  a  sailor  on 
board  an  English  man  of  war.  Being  discon 
tented,  he  had  stripped  himself  and  swam 
ashore;  where  finding  clothes  and  friends,  he 
settled  afterwards  at  Maraneck,  in  the  county 
of  Chester,  in  the  province  of  New-York:  he 
married  and  left  a  good  farm  to  each  of  his 
sons.  I  knew  another  person  who  was  but 
twelve  years  old  when  he  was  taken  on  the 
frontiers  of  Canada,  by  the  Indians;  at  his  ar 
rival  at  Albany  he  was  purchased  by  a  gentle 
man,  who  generously  bound  him  apprentice  to 
a  taylor.  He  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety,  and 
left  behind  him  a  fine  estate  and  a  numerous 
family,  all  well  settled;  many  of  them  I  am  ac 
quainted  with. — Where  is  then  the  industrious 
European  who  ought  to  despair? 

After  a  foreigner  from  any  part  of  Europe  is 
arrived,  and  become  a  citizen;  let  him  devoutly 
listen  to  the  voice  of  our  great  parent,  which 
'says  to  him,  "Welcome  to  my  shores,  dis 
tressed  European;  bless  the  hour  in  which 
"  thou  didst  see  my  verdant  fields,  my  fair 
"  navigable  rivers,  and  my  green  mountains ! 
"  — If  thou  wilt  work,  I  have  bread  for  thee; 
"  if  thou  wilt  be  honest,  sober,  and  indus- 
"  trious,  I  have  greater  rewards  to  confer  on 
"  thee — ease  and  independence.  I  will  give 
"  thee  fields  to  feed  and  cloath  thee;  a  com- 

"  fortable 


WHAT  IS  AN  AMERICAN.       91 

"  fortable  fire-side  to  sit  by,  and  tell  thy  chil- 
"  dren  by  what  means  thou  hast  prospered; 
"  and  a  decent  bed  to  repose  on.  I  shall  en- 
"  dow  thee  beside  with  the  immunities  of  a 
"  freeman.  If  thou  wilt  carefully  educate  thy 
"  children,  teach  them  gratitude  to  God,  and 
"  reverence  to  that  government,  that  phi- 
"  lanthropic  government,  which  has  collected 
"  here  so  many  men  and  made  them  happy. 
"  I  will  also  provide  for  thy  progeny;  and 
"  to  every  good  man  this  ought  to  be  the  most 
"  holy,  the  most  powerful,  the  most  earnest 
"  wish  he  can  possibly  form,  as  well  as  the 
"  most  consolatory  prospect  when  he  dies. 
"  Go  thou  and  work  and  till;  thou  shalt  pros- 
"  per,  provided  thou  be  just,  grateful  and 
"  industrious." 


HISTORY   OF   ANDREW,    THE    HEBRIDEAN. 

LET  historians  give  «the  detail  of  our 
charters,  the  succession  of  our  several  gover 
nors,  and  of  their  administrations;  of  our 
political  struggles,  and  of  the  foundation  of 
our  towns:  let  annalists  amuse  themselves 
with  collecting  anecdotes  of  the  establishment 
of  our  modern  provinces:  eagles  soar  high — 
I,  a  feebler  bird,  chearfully  content  myself 

with 


92          HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

with  skipping  from  bush  to  bush,  and  living 
on  insignificant  insects.  I  am  so  habituated 
to  draw  all  my  food  and  pleasure  from  the  sur 
face  of  the  earth  which  I  till,  that  I  cannot, 
nor  indeed  am  I  able  to  quit  it — I  therefore 
present  you  with  the  short  history  of  a  simple 
Scotchman;  though  it  contain  not  a  single 
remarkable  event  to  amaze  the  reader;  no  tra 
gical  scene  to  convulse  the  heart,  or  pathetic 
narrative  to  draw  tears  from  sympathetic  eyes. 
All  I  wish  to  delineate  is,  the  progressive  steps 
of  a  poor  man,  advancing  from  indigence  to 
ease;  from  oppression  to  freedom;  from  ob- 
scurity  and  contumely  to  some  degree  of  con 
sequence — not  by  virtue  of  any  freaks  of  for 
tune,  but  by  the  gradual  operation  of  sobriety, 
honesty,  and  emigration.  These  are  the  lim 
ited  fields,  through  which  I  love  to  wander; 
sure  to  find  in  some  parts,  the  smile  of  new-born 
happiness,  the  glad  heart,  inspiring  the  chear- 
ful  song,  the  glow  of  manly  pride  excited  by 
vivid  hopes  and  rising  independence.  I  always 
return  from  my  neighbourly  excursions  ex 
tremely  happy,  because  there  I  see  good  living 
almost  under  every  roof,  and  prosperous  en 
deavours  almost  in  every  field.  But  you  may 
say,  why  don't  you  describe  some  of  the  more 
ancient,  opulent  settlements  of  our  country, 
where  even  the  eye  of  an  European  has  some 
thing 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  93 

thing  to  admire?  It  is  true,  our  American  fields 
are  in  general  pleasing  to  behold,  adorned  and 
intermixed  as  they  are  with  so  many  substantial 
houses,  flourishing  orchards  and  copses  of 
woodlands;  the  pride  of  our  farms,  the  source 
of  every  good  we  possess.  But  what  I  might 
observe  there  is  but  natural  and  common ;  for  to 
draw  comfortable  subsistence  from  well  fenced 
cultivated  fields,  is  easy  to  conceive.  A  father 
dies  and  leaves  a  decent  house  and  rich  farm  to 
his  son;  the  son  modernizes  the  one,  and  care 
fully  tills  the  other;  marries  the  daughter  of  a 
friend  and  neighbour :  this  is  the  common  pros 
pect  ;  but  though  it  is  rich  and  pleasant,  yet  it  is 
far  from  being  so  entertaining  and  instructive 
as  the  one  now  in  my  view. 

I  had  rather  attend  on  the  shore  to  welcome 
the  poor  European  when  he  arrives,  I  observe 
him  in  his  first  moments  of  embarrassment, 
trace  him  throughout  his  primary  difficulties, 
follow  him  step  by  step,  until  he  pitches  his 
tent  on  some  piece  of  land,  and  realizes  that 
energetic  wish  which  has  made  him  quit  his 
native  land,  his  kindred,  and  induced  him  to 
traverse  a  boisterous  ocean.  It  is  there  I  want 
to  observe  his  first  thoughts  and  feelings,  the 
first  essays  of  an  industry,  which  hitherto  has 
been  suppressed.  I  wish  to  see  men  cut  down 
the  first  trees,  erect  their  new  buildings,  till 

their 


94         HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

their  first  fields,  reap  their  first  crops,  and  say 
for  the  first  time  in  their  lives,  "  This  is  our 
"  own  grain,  raised  from  American  soil — on 
"  it  we  shall  feed  and  grow  fat,  and  convert 
"  the  rest  into  gold  and  silver."  I  want  to 
see  how  the  happy  effects  of  their  sobriety, 
honesty,  and  industry  are  first  displayed:  and 
who  would  not  take  a  pleasure  in  seeing  these 
strangers  settling  as  new  countrymen,  strug 
gling  with  arduous  difficulties,  overcoming 
them,  and  becoming  happy. 

Landing  on  this  great  continent  is  like  going 
to  sea,  they  must  have  a  compass,  some  friendly 
directing  needle;  or  else  they  will  uselessly 
err  and  wander  for  a  long  time,  even  with  a 
fair  wind:  yet  these  are  the  struggles  through 
which  our  forefathers  have  waded;  and  they 
have  left  u,s  no  other  records  of  them,  but  the 
possession  of  our  farms.  The  reflections  I 
make  on  these  new  settlers  recall  to  my  mind 
what  my  grandfather  did  in  his  days;  they 
fill  me  with  gratitude  to  his  memory  as  well 
as  to  that  government,  which  invited  him  to 
come,  and  helped  him  when  he  arrived,  as  well 
as  many  others.  Can  I  pass  over  these  reflec 
tions  without  remembering  thy  name,  O  Penn ! 
thou  best  of  legislators;  who  by  the  wisdom  of 
thy  laws  hast  endowed  human  nature,  within 
the  bounds  of  thy  province,  with  every  dignity 

it 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  95 

it  can  possibly  enjoy  in  a  civilized  state;  and 
shewed  by  thy  singular  establishment,  what  all 
men  might  be  if  they  would  follow  thy 
example ! 

In  the  year  1770,  I  purchased  some  lands 

in  the  county  of ,  which  I  intended  for 

one  of  my  sons;  and  was  obliged  to  go  there  in 
order  to  see  them  properly  surveyed  and 
marked  out:  the  soil  is  good,  but  the  country 
has  a  very  wild  aspect.  However  I  observed 
with  pleasure,  that  land  sells  very  fast;  and  I 
am  in  hopes  when  the  lad  gets  a  wife,  it  will  be 
a  well-settled  decent  country.  Agreeable  to  our 
customs,  which  indeed  are  those  of  nature,  it 
is  our  duty  to  provide  for  our  eldest  children 
while  we  live,  in  order  that  our  homesteads 
may  be  left  to  the  youngest,  who  are  the  most 
helpless.  Some  people  are  apt  to  regard  the 
portions  given  to  daughters  as  so  much  lost  to 
the  family;  but  this  is  selfish,  and  is  not  agree 
able  to  my  way  of  thinking;  they  cannot  work 
as  men  do;  they  marry  young:  I  have  given 
an  honest  European  a  farm  to  till  for  himself, 
rent  free,  provided  he  clears  an  acre  of  swamp 
every  year,  and  that  he  quits  it  whenever  my 
daughter  shall  marry.  It  will  procure  her  a 
substantial  husband,  a  good  farmer — and  that 
is  all  my  ambition. 

Whilst  I  was  in  the  woods  I  met  with  a  party 

of 


96          HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

of  Indians;  I  shook  hands  with  them,  and  I  per 
ceived  they  had  killed  a  cub;  I  had  a  little 
Peack  brandy,  they  perceived  it  also,  we  there 
fore  joined  company,  kindled  a  large  fire,  and 
ate  an  hearty  supper.  I  made  their  hearts  glad, 
and  we  all  reposed  on  good  beds  of  leaves. 
Soon  after  dark,  I  was  surprised  to  hear  a  pro 
digious  hooting  through  the  woods;  the  Indians 
laughed  heartily.  One  of  them,  more  skillful 
than  the  rest,  mimicked  the  owls  so  exactly, 
that  a  very  large  one  perched  on  a  high  tree 
over  our  fire.  We  soon  brought  him  down ;  he 
measured  five  feet  seven  inches  from  one  ex 
tremity  of  the  wings  to  the  other.  By  Cap 
tain  I  have  sent  you  the  talons,  on  which 

I  have  had  the  heads  of  small  candlesticks  fixed. 
Pray  keep  them  on  the  table  of  your  study 
for  my  sake. 

Contrary  to  my  expectation,  I  found  myself 
under  the  necessity  of  going  to  Philadelphia, 
in  order  to  pay  the  purchase  money,  and  to 
have  the  deeds  properly  recorded.  I  thought 
little  of  the  journey,  though  it  was  above  two 
hundred  miles,  because  I  was  well  acquainted 
with  many  friends,  at  whose  houses  I  intended 
to  stop.  The  third  night  after  I  left  the  woods, 
I  put  up  at  Mr.  's,  the  most  worthy  citi 
zen  I  know ;  he  happened  to  lodge  at  my  house 
when  you  was  there. — He  kindly  enquired 

after 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  97 

after  your  welfare,  and  desired  I  would  make 
a  friendly  mention  of  him  to  you.  The  neatness 
of  these  good  people  is  no  phenomenon,  yet  I 
think  this  excellent  family  surpasses  every  thing 
I  know.  No  sooner  did  I  lie  down  to  rest  than 
I  thought  myself  in  a  most  odoriferous  arbour, 
so  sweet  and  fragrant  were  the  sheets.  Next 
morning  I  found  my  host  in  the  orchard  des 
troying  caterpillars.  I  think,  friend  B.  said  I, 
that  thee  art  greatly  departed  from  the  good 
rules  of  the  society;  thee  seemeth  to  have 
quitted  that  happy  simplicity  for  which  it  hath 
hitherto  been  so  remarkable.  Thy  rebuke, 
friend  James,  is  a  pretty  heavy  one;  what  mo 
tive  canst  thee  have  for  thus  accusing  us?  Thy 
kind  wife  made  a  mistake  last  evening,  I  said; 
she  put  me  on  a  bed  of  roses,  instead  of  a  com 
mon  one ;  I  am  not  used  to  such  delicacies.  And 
is  that  all,  friend  James,  that  thee  hast  to  re 
proach  us  with? — Thee  wilt  not  call  it  luxury 
I  hope  ?  thee  canst  but  know  that  it  is  the  pro 
duce  of  our  garden;  and  friend  Pope  sayeth, 
that  "  to  enjoy  is  to  obey."  This  is  a  most 
learned  excuse  indeed,  friend  B.  and  must  be 
valued  because  it  is  founded  upon  truth.  James, 
my  wife  hath  done  nothing  more  to  thy  bed 
than  what  is  done  all  the  year  round  to  all  the 
beds  in  the  family;  she  sprinkles  her  linen  with 
rose-water  before  she  puts  it  under  the  press; 

it 


98         HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

it  is  her  fancy,  and  I  have  nought  to  say. 
But  thee  shalt  not  escape  so,  verily  I  will  send 
for  her;  thee  and  she  must  settle  the  matter, 
whilst  I  proceed  on  my  work,  before  the  sun 
gets  too  high. — Tom,  go  thou  and  call  thy 
mistress  Philadelphia.  What,  said  I,  is  thy 
wife  called  by  that  name?  I  did  not  know 
that  before.  I'll  tell  thee,  James,  how  it  came 
to  pass:  her  grandmother  was  the  first  female 
child  born  after  William  Penn  landed  with  the 
rest  of  our  brethren;  and  in  compliment  to 
the  city  he  intended  to  build,  she  was  called 
after  the  name  he  intended  to  give  it;  and  so 
there  is  always  one  of  the  daughters  of  her 
family  known  by  the  name  of  Philadelphia. 
She  soon  came,  and  after  a  most  friendly  alter 
cation,  I  gave  up  the  point;  breakfasted,  de 
parted,  and  in  four  days  reached  the  city. 

A  week  after  news  came  that  a  vessel  was 
arrived  with  Scotch  emigrants.  Mr.  C.  and  I 
went  to  the  dock  to  see  them  disembark.  It 
was  a  scene  which  inspired  me  with  a  variety 
of  thoughts:  here  are,  said  I  to  my  friend,  a 
number  of  people,  driven  by  poverty,  and  other 
adverse  causes,  to  a  foreign  land,  in  which  they 
know  nobody.  The  name  of  a  stranger,  instead 
of  implying  relief,  assistance,  and  kindness,  on 
the  contrary,  conveys  very  different  ideas.  They 
are  now  distressed;  their  minds  are  racked  by 

a  variety 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  99 

a  variety  of  apprehensions,  fears  and  hopes.  It 
was  this  last  powerful  sentiment  which  has 
brought  them  here.  If  they  are  good  people, 
I  pray  that  heaven  may  realise  them.  Who 
ever  were  to  see  them  thus  gathered  again  in 
five  or  six  years,  would  behold  a  more  pleasing 
sight,  to  which  this  would  serve  as  a  very  pow 
erful  contrast.  By  their  honesty,  the  vigour  of 
their  arms,  and  the  benignity  of  government, 
their  condition  will  be  greatly  improved;  they 
will  be  well  clad,  fat,  possessed  of  that  manly 
confidence  which  property  confers;  they  will 
become  useful  citizens.  Some  of  the  posterity 
may  act  conspicuous  parts  in  our  future  Ameri 
can  transactions.  Most  of  them  appeared  pale 
and  emaciated,  from  the  length  of  the  passage, 
and  the  indifferent  provision  on  which  they  had 
lived.  The  number  of  children  seemed  as 
great  as  that  of  the  people;  they  had  all  paid 
for  being  conveyed  here.  The  captain  told  us 
they  were  a  quiet,  peaceable,  and  harmless  peo 
ple,  who  had  never  dwelt  in  cities.  This  was 
a  valuable  cargo ;  they  seemed,  a  few  excepted, 
to  be  in  the  full  vigour  of  their  lives.  Several 
citizens,  impelled  either  by  spontaneous  attach 
ments,  or  motives  of  humanity,  took  many  of 
them  to  their  houses;  the  city,  agreeable  to  its 
usual  wisdom  and  humanity,  ordered  them  all 
to  be  lodged  in  the  barracks,  and  plenty  of  pro 
visions 


ioo       HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

visions  to  be  given  them.  My  friend  pitched 
upon  one  also  and  led  him  to  his  house,  with 
his  wife,  and  a  son  about  fourteen  years  of  age. 
The  majority  of  them  had  contracted  for  land 
the  year  before,  by  means  of  an  agent;  the  rest 
depended  entirely  upon  chance;  and  the  one 
who  followed  us  was  of  this  last  class.  Poor 
man,  he  smiled  on  receiving  the  invitation,  and 
gladly  accepted  it,  bidding  his  wife  and  son  do 
the  same,  in  a  language  which  I  did  not  under 
stand.  He  gazed  with  uninterrupted  attention 
on  every  thing  he  saw;  the  houses,  the  inhabi 
tants,  the  negroes,  and  carriages:  every  thing 
appeared  equally  new  to  him;  and  we  went 
slow,  in  order  to  give  him  time  to  feed 
on  this  pleasing  variety.  Good  God! 
said  he,  is  this  Philadelphia,  that  blessed 
city  of  bread  and  provisions,  of  which 
we  have  heard  so  much?  I  am  told  it  was 
founded  the  same  year  in  which  my  father  was 
born;  why  it  is  finer  than  Greenock  and  Glas 
gow,  which  are  ten  times  as  old.  It  is  so,  said 
my  friend  to  him,  and  when  thee  hast  been  here 
a  month,  thee  will  soon  see  that  it  is  the  capital 
of  a  fine  province,  of  which  thee  art  going  to  be 
a  citizen:  Greenock  enjoys  neither  such  a  cli 
mate  nor  such  a  soil.  Thus  we  slowly  pro 
ceeded  along,  when  we  met  several  large  Lan 
caster  six-horse  waggons,  just  arrived  from  the 

country 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  101 

country.  At  this  stupendous  sight  he  stopped 
short,  and  with  great  diffidence  asked  us  what 
was  the  use  of  these  great  moving  houses,  and 
where  those  big  horses  came  from  ?  Have  you 
none  such  at  home,  I  asked  him  ?  Oh,  no ;  these 
huge  animals  would  eat  all  the  grass  of  our 
island !  We  at  last  reached  my  friend's  house, 
who  in  the  glow  of  well-meant  hospitality, 
made  them  all  three  sit  down  to  a  good  din 
ner,  and  gave  them  as  much  cyder  as  they  could 
drink.  God  bless  this  country,  and  the  good 
people  it  contains,  said  he ;  this  is  the  best  meal's 
victuals  I  have  made  a  long  time. — I  thank  you 
kindly. 

What  part  of  Scotland  dost  thee  come  from, 
friend  Andrew,  said  Mr.  C.  ?  Some  of  us  come 
from  the  main,  some  from  the  island  of  Barra, 
he  answered — I  myself  am  a  Barra  man.  I 
looked  on  the  map,  and  by  its  latitude,  easily 
guessed  that  it  must  be  an  inhospitable  climate. 
What  sort  of  land  have  you  got  there,  I  asked 
him?  Bad  enough,  said  he;  we  have  no  such 
trees  as  I  see  here,  no  wheat,  no  kyne,  no  apples. 
Then,  I  observed,  that  it  must  be  hard  for  the 
poor  to  live.  We  have  no  poor,  he  answered, 
we  are  all  alike,  except  our  laird;  but  he  can 
not  help  every  body.  Pray  what  is  the  name  of 
your  laird?  Mr.  Neiel,  said  Andrew;  the  like 
of  him  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  of  the  isles ;  his 

forefathers 


102       HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

forefathers  have  lived  there  thirty  generations 
ago,  as  we  are  told.  Now,  gentlemen,  you 
may  judge  what  an  ancient  family  estate  it 
must  be.  But  it  is  cold,  the  land  is  thin,  and 
there  were  too  many  of  us,  which  are  the  rea 
sons  that  some  are  come  to  seek  their  fortunes 
here.  Well,  Andrew,  what  step  do  you  intend 
to  take  in  order  to  become  rich  ?  I  do  not  know, 
Sir;  I  am  but  an  ignorant  man,  a  stranger  be 
sides — I  must  rely  on  the  advice  of  good  Chris 
tians,  they  would  not  deceive  me,  I  am  sure. 
I  have  brought  with  me  a  character  from  our 
Barra  minister,  can  it  do  me  any  good  here? 
Oh,  yes;  but  your  future  success  will  depend 
entirely  on  your  own  conduct;  if  you  are  a 
/  sober  man,  as  the  certificate  says,  laborious,  and 
honest,  there  is  no  fear  but  that  you  will  do 
well.  Have  you  brought  any  money  with  you, 
Andrew?  Yes,  Sir,  eleven  guineas  and  an  half. 
Upon  my  word  it  is  a  considerable  sum  for 
a  Barra  man;  how  came  you  by  so  much 
money?  Why  seven  years  ago  I  received  a 
legacy  of  thirty-seven  pounds  from  an  uncle, 
who  loved  me  much;  my  wife  brought  me  two 
guineas,  when  the  laird  gave  her  to  me  for  a 
wife,  which  I  have  saved  ever  since.  I  have 
sold  all  I  had;  I  worked  in  Glasgow  for  some 
time.  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  are  so  saving  and 
prudent;  be  so  still;  you  must  go  and  hire  your- 

self 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  103 

self  with  some  good  people;  what  can  you  do? 
I  can  thresh  a  little,  and  handle  the  spade.  Can 
you  plough?  Yes,  Sir,  with  the  little  breast 
plough  I  have  brought  with  me.  These  won't 
do  here,  Andrew;  you  are  an  able  man;  if  you 
are  willing  you  will  soon  learn.  I'll  tell  you 
what  I  intend  to  do ;  I'll  send  you  to  my  house, 
where  you  shall  stay  two  or  three  weeks,  there 
you  must  exercise  yourself  with  the  axe,  that 
is  the  principal  tool  the  Americans  want,  and 
particularly  the  back-settlers.  Can  your  wife 
spin  ?  Yes,  she  can.  Well  then  as  soon  as  you 
are  able  to  handle  the  axe,  you  shall  go  and  live 
with  Mr.  P.  R.  a  particular  friend  of  mine, 
who  will  give  you  four  dollars  per  month,  for 
the  first  six,  and  the  usual  price  of  five  as  long 
as  you  remain  with  him.  I  shall  place  your 
wife  in  another  house,  where  she  shall  receive 
half  a  dollar  a  week  for  spinning ;  and  your  son 
a  dollar  a  month  to  drive  the  team.  You  shall 
have  besides  good  victuals  to  eat,  and  good  beds 
to  lie  on;  will  all  this  satisfy  you,  Andrew?  He 
hardly  understood  what  I  said ;  the  honest  tears 
of  gratitude  fell  from  his  eyes  as  he  looked  at 
me,  and  its  expressions  seemed  to  quiver  on  his 
lips. — Though  silent,  this  was  saying  a  great 
deal;  there  was  besides  something  extremely 
moving  to  see  a  man  six  feet  high,  thus  shed 
tears ;  and  they  did  not  lessen  the  good  opinion 

I  had 


io4        HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

I  had  entertained  of  him.  At  last  he  told  me, 
that  my  offers  were  more  than  he  deserved,  and 
that  he  would  first  begin  to  work  for  his  vic 
tuals.  No,  no,  said  I,  if  you  are  careful  and 
sober,  and  do  what  you  can,  you  shall  receive 
what  I  told  you,  after  you  have  served  a  short 
apprenticeship  at  my  house.  May  God  repay 
you  for  all  your  kindnesses,  said  Andrew;  as 
long  as  I  live  I  shall  thank  you,  and  do  what  I 
can  for  you.  A  few  days  after  I  sent  them  all 

three  to ,  by  the  return  of  some  waggons, 

that  he  might  have  an  opportunity  of  viewing, 
and  convincing  himself  of  the  utility  of  those 
machines  which  he  had  at  first  so  much 
admired. 

The  further  descriptions  he  gave  us  of  the 
Hebrides  in  general,  and  of  his  native  island  in 
particular;  of  the  customs  and  modes  of  living 
of  the  inhabitants;  greatly  entertained  me. 
Pray  is  the  sterility  of  the  soil  the  cause  that 
there  are  no  trees,  or  is  it  because  there  are 
none  planted?  What  are  the  modern  families 
of  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  compared  to  the 
date  of  that  of  Mr.  Neiel?  Admitting  that 
each  generation  should  last  but  forty  years,  this 
makes  a  period  of  1200;  an  extraordinary  dura 
tion  for  the  uninterrupted  descent  of  any  fam 
ily!  Agreeably  to  the  description  he  gave  us 
of  those  countries,  they  seem  to  live  according 

to 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  105 

to  the  rules  of  nature,  which  gives  them  but 
bare  subsistence;  their  constitutions  are  uncon- 
taminated  by  any  excess  or  effeminacy,  which 
their  soil  refuses.  If  their  allowance  of  food  is 
not  too  scanty,  they  must  all  be  healthy  by  per 
petual  temperance  and  exercise;  if  so,  they  are 
amply  rewarded  for  their  poverty.  Could  they 
have  obtained  but  necessary_food,  they  would 
not  have  left  it;  for  it  was  not  in  consequence  of 
oppression,  either  from  their  patriarch  or  the 
government,  that  they  had  emigrated.  I  wish 
we  had  a  colony,  of  these  honest  people  settled 
in  some  parts  of  this  province;  their  morals, 
their  religion,  seem  to  be  as  simple  as  their 
manners.  This  society  would  present  an  inter 
esting  spectacle  could  they  be  transported  on  a 
richer  soil.  But  perhaps  that  soil  would  soon 
alter  every  thing;  for  our  opinions,  vices  and 
virtues,  are  altogether  local:  we  are  machines 
fashioned  by  every  circumstance  around  us. 

Andrew  arrived  at  my  house  a  week  before 
I  did,  and  I  found  my  wife,  agreeble  to  my  in 
structions,  had  placed  the  axe  in  his  hands,  as 
his  first  task.  For  some  time  he  was  very  auk- 
ward,  but  he  was  so  docile,  so  willing,  and 
grateful,  as  well  as  his  wife,  that  I  foresaw  he 
would  succeed.  Agreeably  to  my  promise,  I  put 
them  all  with  different  families,  where  they 
were  well  liked,  and  all  parties  were  pleased. 

Andrew 


io6        HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

Andrew  worked  hard,  lived  well,  grew  fat,  and 
every  Sunday  came  to  pay  me  a  visit  on  a  good 
horse,  which  Mr.  P.  R.  lent  him.  Poor  man, 
it  took  him  a  long  time  ere  he  could  sit  on  the 
saddle  and  hold  the  bridle  properly.  I  believe 
he  had  never  before  mounted  such  a  beast, 
though  I  did  not  choose  to  ask  him  that  ques 
tion,  for  fear  it  might  suggest  some  mortifying 
ideas.  After  having  been  twelve  months  at 
Mr.  P.  R.'s,  and  having  received  his  own  and 
his  family's  wages,  which  amounted  to  eighty- 
four  dollars;  he  came  to  see  me  on  a  week  day, 
and  told  me,  that  he  was  a  man  of  middle  age, 
and  would  willingly  have  land  of  his  own,  in 
order  to  procure  him  a  home,  as  a  shelter 
against  old  age:  that  whenever  this  period 
should  come,  his  son,  to  whom  he  would  give 
his  land,  would  then  maintain  him,  and  thus  live 
all  together;  he  therefore  required  my  advice 
and  assistance.  I  thought  his  desire  very 
natural  and  praise-worthy,  and  told  him  that  I 
should  think  of  it,  but  that  he  must  remain  one 
month  longer  with  Mr.  P.  R.,  who  had  3000 
rails  to  split.  He  immediately  consented.  The 
spring  was  not  far  advanced  enough  yet  for 
Andrew  to  begin  clearing  any  land  even  sup 
posing  that  he  had  made  a  purchase;  as  it  is 
always  necessary  that  the  leaves  should  be  out, 
in  order  that  this  additional  combustible  may 

serve 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  107 

serve    to    burn    the    heaps    of    brush    more 
readily. 

A  few  days  after,  it  happened  that  the  whole 
family  of  Mr.  P.  R.  went  to  meeting,  and  left 
Andrew  to  take  care  of  the  house.  While  he 
was  at  the  door,  attentively  reading  the  Bible, 
nine  Indians  just  come  from  the  mountains, 
suddenly  made  their  appearance,  and  unloaded 
their  packs  of  furrs  on  the  floor  of  the  piazza. 
Conceive,  if  you  can,  what  was  Andrew's  con 
sternation  at  this  extraordinary  sight!  From 
the  singular  appearance  of  these  people,  the 
honest  Hebridean  took  them  for  a  lawless  band 
come  to  rob  his  master's  house.  He  therefore, 
like  a  faithful  guardian,  precipitately  withdrew, 
and  shut  the  doors,  but  as  most  of  our  houses 
are  without  locks,  he  was  reduced  to  the  neces 
sity  of  fixing  his  knife  over  the  latch,  and  then 
flew  up  stairs  in  quest  of  a  broad  sword  he  had 
brought  from  Scotland.  The  Indians,  who 
were  Mr.  P.  R.'s  particular  friends,  guessed  at 
his  suspicions  and  fears;  they  forcibly  lifted 
the  door,  and  suddenly  took  possession  of  the 
house,  got  all  the  bread  and  meat  they  wanted, 
and  sat  themselves  down  by, the  fire.  At  this 
instant  Andrew,  with  his  broad  sword  in  his 
hand,  entered  the  room;  the  Indians  earnestly 
looking  at  him,  and  attentively  watching  his 
motions.  After  a  very  few  reflections,  Andrew 

found 


io8        HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

found  that  his  weapon  was  useless,  when  op 
posed  to  nine  tomahawks;  but  this  did  not 
diminish  his  anger,  on  the  contrary;  it  grew 
greater  on  observing  the  calm  impudence  with 
which  they  were  devouring  the  family  pro 
visions.  Unable  to  resist,  he  called  them  names 
in  broad  Scotch,  and  ordered  them  to  desist 
and  be  gone ;  to  which  the  Indians  (as  they  told 
me  afterwards)  replied  in  their  equally  broad 
idiom.  It  must  have  been  a  most  unintelligible 
altercation  between  this  honest  Barra  man,  and 
nine  Indians  who  did  not  much  care  for  any 
thing  he  could  say.  At  last  he  ventured  to  lay 
his  hands  on  one  of  them,  in  order  to  turn  him 
out  of  the  house.  Here  Andrew's  fidelity  got 
the  better  of  his  prudence;  for  the  Indian,  by 
his  motions,  threatened  to  scalp  him,  while  the 
rest  gave  the  war  hoop.  This  horrid  noise  so 
effectually  frightened  poor  Andrew,  that,  un 
mindful  of  his  courage,  of  his  broad  sword,  and 
his  intentions,  he  rushed  out,  left  them  masters 
of  the  house,  and  disappeared.  I  have  heard 
one  of  the  Indians  say  since,  that  he  never 
laughed  so  heartily  in  his  life.  Andrew  at  a 
distance,  soon  recovered  from  the  fears  which 
had  been  inspired  by  this  infernal  yell,  and 
thought  of  no  other  remedy  than  to  go  to  the 
meeting-house,  which  was  about  two  miles  dis 
tant.  In  the  eagerness  of  his  honest  intentions, 

with 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  109 

with  looks  of  affright  still  marked  on  his  coun 
tenance,  he  called  Mr.  P.  R.  out,  and  told  him 
with  great  vehemence  of  style,  that  nine  mon 
sters  were  come  to  his  house — some  blue,  some 
red,  and  some  black;  that  they  had  little  axes 
in  their  hands  out  of  which  they  smoked;  and 
that  like  highlanders,  they  had  no  breeches; 
that  they  were  devouring  all  his  victuals,  and 
that  God  only  knew  what  they  would  do  more. 
Pacify  yourself,  said  Mr.  P.  R.  my  house  is  as 
safe  with  these  people,  as  if  I  was  there  myself; 
as  for  the  victuals,  they  are  heartily  welcome, 
honest  Andrew;  they  are  not  people  of  much 
ceremony;  they  help  themselves  thus  whenever 
they  are  among  their  friends;  I  do  so  too  in 
their  wigwhams,  whenever  I  go  to  their  vil 
lage  :  you  had  better  therefore  step  in  and  hear 
the  remainder  of  the  sermon,  and  when  the 
meeting  is  over  we  will  all  go  back  in  the  wag 
gon  together. 

At  their  return,  Mr.  P.  R.  who  speaks  the 
Indian  language  very  well,  explained  the  whole 
matter;  the  Indians  renewed  their  laugh,  and 
shook  hands  with  honest  Andrew,  whom  they 
made  to  smoke  out  of  their  pipes;  and  thus 
peace  was  made,  and  ratified  according  to  the 
Indian  custom,  by  the  calumet. 

Soon  after  this  adventure,  the  time  ap 
proached  when  I  had  promised  Andrew  my 

best 


J 


no       HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

best  assistance  to  settle  him;  for  that  purpose 

I  went  to  Mr.  A.  V.  in  the  county  of  , 

who,  I  was  informed,  had  purchased  a  track  of 

land,  contiguous  to  settlement.     I  gave 

him  a  faithful  detail  of  the  progress  Andrew 
had  made  in  the  rural  arts;  of  his  honesty,  so 
briety,  and  gratitude,  and  pressed  him  to  sell 
him  an  hundred  acres.  This  I  cannot  comply 
with,  said  Mr.  A.  V.,  but  at  the  same  time  I 
will  do  better;  I  love  to  encourage  honest  Euro 
peans  as  much  as  you  do,  and  to  see  them  pros 
per  :  you  tell  me  he  has  but  one  son ;  I  will  lease 
them  an  hundred  acres  for  any  term  of  years 
you  please,  and  make  it  more  valuable  to  your 
Scotchman  than  if  he  was  possessed  of  the  fee 
simple.  By  that  means  he  may,  with  what 
little  money  he  has,  buy  a  plough,  a  team,  and 
some  stock;  he  will  not  be  incumbered  with 
debts  and  mortgages;  what  he  raises  will  be  his 
own ;  had  he  two  or  three  sons  as  able  as  him 
self,  then  I  should  think  it  more  eligible  for 
him  to  purchase  the  fee  simple.  I  join  with 
you  in  opinion,  and  will  bring  Andrew  along 
with  me  in  a  few  days. 

Well,  honest  Andrew,  said  Mr.  A.  V.  in 
consideration  of  your  good  name,  I  will  let  you 
have  an  hundred  acres  of  good  arable  land, 
that  shall  be  laid  out  along  a  new  road;  there 
is  a  bridge  already  erected  on  the  creek  that 

passes 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  in 

passes  through  the  land,  and  a  fine  swamp  of 
about  twenty  acres.  These  are  my  terms,  I  can 
not  sell,  but  I  will  lease  you  the  quantity  that 
Mr.  James,  your  friend,  has  asked;  the  first 
seven  years  you  shall  pay  no  rent,  whatever  you 
sow  and  reap,  and  plant  and  gather,  shall  be 
entirely  your  own;  neither  the  king,  govern 
ment,  nor  church,  will  have  any  claim  on  your 
future  property:  the  remaining  part  of  the 
time  you  must  give  me  twelve  dollars  and  an 
half  a  year;  and  that  is  all  you  will  have  to  pay 
me.  Within  the  three  first  years  you  must 
plant  fifty  apple  trees,  and  clear  seven  acres  of 
swamp  within  the  first  part  of  the  lease ;  it  will 
be  your  own  advantage :  whatever  you  do  more 
within  that  tirrfe,  I  will  pay  you  for  it,  at  the 
common  rate  of  the  country.  The  term  of  the 
lease  shall  be  thirty  years;  how  do  you  like  it, 
Andrew?  Oh,  Sir,  it  is  very  good,  but  I  am 
afraid,  that  the  king  or  his  ministers,  or  the 
governor,  or  some  of  our  great  men,  will  come 
and  take  the  land  from  me;  your  son  may  say 
to  me,  by  and  by,  this  is  my  father's  land,  An 
drew,  you  must  quit  it.  No,  no,  said  Mr.  A.  V. 
there  is  no  such  danger;  the  king  and  his  min 
isters  are  too  just  to  take  the  labour  of  a  poor 
settler;  here  we  have  no  great  men,  but  what 
are  subordinate  to  our  laws;  but  to  calm  all 
your  fears,  I  will  give  you  a  lease,  so  that  none 

can 


ii2        HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

can  make  you  afraid.  If  ever  you  are  dis 
satisfied  with  the  land,  a  jury  of  your  own 
neighbourhood  shall  value  all  your  improve 
ments,  and  you  shall  be  paid  agreeably  to  their 
verdict.  You  may  sell  the  lease,  or  if  you  die, 
you  may  previously  dispose  of  it,  as  if  the  land 
was  your  own.  Expressive,  yet  inarticulate  joy, 
was  mixed  in  his  countenance,  which  seemed 
impressed  with  astonishment  and  confusion.  Do 
you  understand  me  well,  said  Mr.  A.  V?  No, 
Sir,  replied  Andrew,  1  know  nothing  of  what 
you  mean  about  lease,  improvement,  will,  jury, 
&c.  That  is  honest,  we  will  explain  these 
things  to  you  by  and  by.  It  must  be  confessed 
that  those  were  hard  words,  which  he  had  never 
heard  in  his  life;  for  by  his  own  account,  the 
ideas  they  convey  would  be  totally  useless  in 
the  island  of  Barra.  No  wonder,  therefore 
that  he  was  embarrassed;  for  how  could  the 
man  who  had  hardly  a  will  of  his  own  since  he 
was  born,  imagine  he  could  have  one  after  his 
death?  How  could  the  person  who  never  pos 
sessed  any  thing,  conceive  that  he  could  extend 
his  new  dominion  over  this  land,  even  after  he 
shoufd  be  laid  in  his  grave?  For  my  part,  I 
think  Andrew's  amazement  did  not  imply  any 
extraordinary  degree  of  ignorance;  he  was  an 
actor  introduced  upon  a  new  scene,  it  required 
some  time  ere  he  could  reconcile  himself  to  the 

part 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  113 

part  he  was  to  perform.  However  he  was  soon 
enlightened,  and  introduced  into  those  mys 
teries  with  which  we  native  Americans  are  but 
too  well  acquainted. 

Here  then  is  honest  Andrew,  invested  with 
every  municipal  advantage  they  confer;  become 
a  freeholder,  possessed  of  a  vote,  of  a  place  of 
residence,  a  citizen  of  the  province  of  Penn 
sylvania.  Andrew's  original  hopes  and  the  dis 
tant  prospects  he  had  formed  in  the  island  of 
Barra,  were  at  the  eve  of  being  realised;  we 
therefore  can  easily  forgive  him  a  few  spon 
taneous  ejaculations,  which  would  be  useless  to 
repeat.  This  short  tale  is  easily  told;  few 
words  are  sufficient  to  describe  this  sudden 
change  of  situation;  but  in  his  mind  it  was 
gradual,  and  took  him  above  a  week  before  he 
could  be  sure,  that  without  disturbing  any 
money  he  could  possess  lands.  Soon  after  he 
prepared  himself;  I  lent  him  a  barrel  of  pork, 
and  200  Ib.  weight  of  meal,  and  made  him 
purchase  what  was  necessary  besides. 

He  set  out,  and  hired  a  room  in  the  house 
of  a  settler  who  lived  the  most  contiguous  to 
his  own  land.  His  first  work  was  to  clear  some 
acres  of  swamp,  that  he  might  have  a  supply 
of  hay  the  following  year  for  his  two  horses 
and  cows.  From  the  first  day  he  began  to  work, 
he  was  indefatigable;  his  honesty  procured  him 

friends, 


ii4       HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

friends,  and  his  industry  the  esteem  of  his  new 
neighbours.  One  of  them  offered  him  two  acres 
of  cleared  land,  whereon  he  might  plant  corn, 
pumpkins,  squashes,  and  a  few  potatoes,  that 
very  season.  It  is  astonishing  how  quick  men 
will  learn  when  they  work  for  themselves.  I 
saw  with  pleasure  two  months  after,  Andrew 
holding  a  two  horse-plough  and  tracing  his  fur 
rows  quite  straight;  thus  the  spade  man  of  the 
island  of  Barra  was  become  the  tiller  of  Ameri 
can  soil.  Well  done,  said  I,  Andrew,  well 
done;  I  see  that  God  speeds  and  directs  your 
works;  I  see  prosperity  delineated  in  all  your 
furrows  and  head  lands.  Raise  this  crop  of 
corn  with  attention  and  care,  and  then  you  will 
be  master  of  the  art. 

As  he  had  neither  mowing  nor  reaping  to  do 
that  year,  I  told  him  that  the  time  was  come  to 
build  his  house;  and  that  for  the  purpose  I 
would  myself  invite  the  neighbourhood  to  a 
frolick;  that  thus  he  would  have  a  large  dwel 
ling  erected,  and  some  upland  cleared  in  one 
day.  Mr.  P.  R.  his  old  friend,  came  at  the  time 
appointed,  with  all  his  hands,  and  brought 
victuals  in  plenty :  I  did  the  same.  About  forty 
people  repaired  to  the  spot;  the  songs,  and 
merry  stories,  went  round  the  woods  from 
cluster  to  cluster,  as  the  people  had  gathered  to 
their  different  works;  trees  fell  on  all  sides, 

bushes 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  115 

bushes  were  cut  up  and  heaped ;  and  while  many 
were  thus  employed,  others  with  their  teams 
hauled  the  big  logs  to  the  spot  which  Andrew 
had  pitched  upon  for  the  erection  of  his  new 
dwelling.  We  all  dined  in  the  woods;  in  the 
afternoon  the  logs  were  placed  with  skids,  and 
the  usual  contrivances :  thus  the  rude  house  was 
raised,  and  above  two  acres  of  land  cut  up, 
cleared,  and  heaped. 

Whilst  all  these  different  operations  were 
performing,  Andrew  was  absolutely  incapable 
of  working;  it  was  to  him  the  most  solemn  holi 
day  he  had  ever  seen;  it  would  have  been 
sacrilegious  in  him  to  have  defiled  it  with 
menial  labour.  Poor  man,  he  sanctified  it  with 
joy  and  thanksgiving,  and  honest  libations — he 
went  from  one  to  the  other  with  the  bottle  in  his 
hand,  pressing  every  body  to  drink,  and  drink 
ing  himself  to  shew  the  example.  He  spent  the 
whole  day  in  smiling,  laughing,  and  uttering 
monosyllables :  his  wife  and  son  were  there  also, 
but  as  they  could  not  understand  the  language, 
their  pleasure  must  have  been  altogether  that  of 
the  imagination.  The  powerful  lord,  the 
wealthy  merchant,  on  seeing  the  superb  mansion 
finished,  never  can  feel  half  the  joy  and  real 
happiness  which  was  felt  and  enjoyed  on  that 
day  by  this  honest  Hebridean :  though  this  new 
dwelling,  erected  in  the  midst  of  the  woods, 

was 


u6        HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

was  nothing  more  than  a  square  inclosure,  com 
posed  of  twenty- four  large  clumsy  logs,  let  in 
at  the  ends.  When  the  work  was  finished,  the 
company  made  the  woods  resound  with  the 
noise  of  their  three  cheers,  and  the  honest 
wishes  they  formed  for  Andrew's  prosperity. 
He  could  say  nothing,  but  with  thankful  tears 
he  shook  hands  with  them  all.  Thus  from  the 
first  day  he  had  landed,  Andrew  marched 
towards  this  important  event:  this  memorable 
day  made  the  sun  shine  on  that  land  on  which 
he  was  to  sow  wheat  and  other  grain.  What 
swamp  he  had  cleared  lay  before  his  door;  the 
essence  of  future  bread,  milk,  and  meat,  were 
scattered  all  round  him.  Soon  after  he  hired  a 
carpenter,  who  put  on  a  roof  and  laid  the  floors; 
in  a  week  more  the  house  was  properly  plais- 
tered,  and  the  chimney  finished.  He  moved 
into  it,  and  purchased  two  cows,  which  found 
plenty  of  food  in  the  woods — his  hogs  had  the 
same  advantage.  That  very  year,  he  and  his 
son  sowed  three  bushels  of  wheat,  from  which 
he  reaped  ninety-one  and  a  half;  for  I  Jiad 
ordered  him  to  keep  an  exact  account  of  all  he 
should  raise.  His  first  crop  of  other  corn 
would  have  been  as  good,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  squirrels,  which  were  enemies  not  to  be  dis 
persed  by  the  broad  sword.  The  fourth  year  I 
took  an  inventory  of  the  wheat  this  man  pos 
sessed, 


THE  HEBRIDEAN.  117 

sessed,  which  I  send  you.  Soon  after,  further 
settlements  were  made  on  that  road,  and  An 
drew,  instead  of  being  the  last  man  towards  the 
wilderness,  found  himself  in  a  few  years  in  the 
middle  of  a  numerous  society.  He  helped 
others  as  generously  as  others  had  helped  him ; 
and  I  have  dined  many  times  at  his  table  with 
several  of  his  neighbours.  The  second  year  he 
was  made  overseer  of  the  road,  and  served  on 
two  petty  juries,  performing  as  a  citizen  all  the 
duties  required  of  him.  The  historiographer 
of  some  great  prince  or  general,  does  not  bring 
his  hero  victorious  to  the  end  of  a  successful 
campaign,  with  one  half  of  the  heart-felt  pleas 
ure,  with  which  I  have  conducted  Andrew  to 
the  situation  he  now  enjoys :  he  is  independent 
and  easy.  Triumph  and  military  honours  do 
not  always  imply  those  two  blessings.  He  is 
unincumbered  with  debts,  services,  rents,  or  any 
other  dues;  the  successes  of  a  campaign,  the 
laurels  of  war,  must  be  purchased  at  the  dearest 
rate,  which  makes  every  cool  reflecting  citizen 
to  tremble  and  shudder.  By  the  literal  account 
hereunto  annexed,  you  will  easily  be  made  ac 
quainted  with  the  happy  effects  which  con 
stantly  flow,  in  this  country,  from  sobriety  and 
industry,  when  united  with  good  land^and  free 
dom. 

TTie  account  of  the  property  he  acquired  with 

his 


cV 


n8        HISTORY  OF  ANDREW, 

his  own  hands  and  those  of  his  son,  in  four 
years,  is  under: 

Dollars. 

The  value  of  his  improvements  and  lease .  225 

Six  cows,  at  13  dollars 78 

Two  breeding  mares 50 

The  rest  of  the  stock 100 

Seventy-three  bushels  of  wheat 66 

Money  due  to  him  on  notes 43 

Pork  and  beef  in  his  cellar 28 

Wool  and  flax 19 

Ploughs  and  other  utensils  of  husbandry.  31 

240!.  Pennsylvania  currency — dollars . .  640 


LETTER 


NANTUCKET.  119 


LETTER     IV. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  ISLAND  OF  NANTUCKET, 
WITH  THE  MANNERS,  CUSTOMS,  POLICY, 
AND  TRADE  OF  THE  INHABITANTS. 

THE  greatest  compliment  that  can  be 
paid  to  the  best  of  kings,  to  the  wisest 
ministers,  or  the  most  patriotic  rulers, 
is  to  think,  that  the  reformation  of  political 
abuses,  and  the  happiness  of  their  people  are 
the  primary  objects  of  their  attention.  But 
alas!  how  disagreeable  must  the  work  of  ref 
ormation  be;  how  dreaded  the  operation;  for 
we  hear  of  no  amendment :  on  the  contrary,  the 
great  number  of  European  emigrants,  yearly 
coming  over  here,  informs  us,  that  the  severity 
of  taxes,  the  injustice  of  laws,  the  tyranny  of 
the  rich,  and  the  oppressive  avarice  of  the 
church;  are  as  intolerable  as  ever.  Will  these 
calamities  have  no  end?  Are  not  the  great 
rulers  of  the  earth  afraid  of  losing,  by  degrees, 
their  most  useful  subjects?  This  country,  provi 
dentially  intended  for  the  general  asylum  of 
the  world,  will  flourish  by  the  oppression  of 
their  people ;  they  will  every  day  become  better 

acquainted 


120  DESCRIPTION  OF 

acquainted  with  the  happiness  we  enjoy,  and 
seek  for  the  means  of  transporting  themselves 
here,  in  spite  of  all  obstacles  and  laws.     To 
what  purpose  then  have  so  many  useful  books 
and  divine  maxims  been  transmitted  to  us  from 
preceding  ages? — Are  they  all  vain,  all  use 
less?    Must  human  nature  ever  be  the  sport  of 
the  few,  and  its  many  wounds  remain  unhealed? 
How  happy  are  we  here,  in  having  fortunately 
escaped    the    miseries    which     attended    our 
fathers ;  how  thankful  ought  we  to  be,  that  they 
reared  us  in  a  land  where  sobriety  and  industry 
never  fail  to  meet  with  the  most  ample  rewards ! 
You  have,  no  doubt,  read  several  histories  of 
this  continent,  yet  there  are  a  thousand  facts,  a 
thousand   explanations   overlooked.     Authors 
will   certainly  convey  to  you   a   geographical 
knowledge  of  this  country;  they  will  acquaint 
you  with  the  aeras  of  the  several  settlements,  the 
foundations  of  our  towns,  the  spirit  of  our  dif 
ferent  charters,  &c.  yet  they  do  not  sufficiently 
disclose  the  genius  of  the  people,  their  various 
customs,   their  modes  of  agriculture,   the  in 
numerable  resources  which  the  industrious  have 
of  raising  themselves  to  a  comfortable  and  easy 
situation.     Few  of  these  writers  have  resided 
here,  and  those  who  have,  had  not  pervaded 
every  part  of  the  country,   nor  carefully  ex 
amined  the  nature  and  principles  of  our  associa 
tion. 


NANTUCKET.  121 

tion.  It  would  be  a  task  worthy  a  speculative 
genius,  to  enter  intimately  into  the  situation  and 
characters  of  the  people,  from  Nova  Scotia  to 
West  Florida;  and  surely  history  cannot  pos 
sibly  present  any  subject  more  pleasing  to  be 
hold.  Sensible  how  unable  I  am  to  lead  you 
through  so  vast  a  maze,  let  us  look  attentively 
for  some  small  unnoticed  corner;  but  where 
shall  we  go  in  quest  of  such  an  one?  Number 
less  settlements,  each  distinguished  by  some  pe 
culiarities,  present  themselves  on  every  side ;  all 
seem  to  realise  the  most  sanguine  wishes  that  a 
good  man  could  form  for  the  happiness  of  his 
race.  Here  they  live  by  fishing  on  the  most 
plentiful  coasts  in  the  world;  there  they  fell 
trees,  by  the  sides  of  large  rivers,  for  masts  and 
lumber;  here  others  convert  innumerable  logs 
into  the  best  boards;  there  again  others  culti 
vate  the  land,  rear  cattle,  and  clear  large  fields. 
Yet  I  have  a  spot  in  my  view,  where  none  of 
these  occupations  are  performed,  which  will,  I 
hope,  reward  us  for  the  trouble  of  inspection; 
but  though  it  is  barren  in  its  soil,  insignificant 
in  its  extent,  inconvenient  in  its  situation,  de 
prived  of  materials  for  building;  it  seems  to 
have  been  inhabited  merely  to  prove  what  man 
kind  can  do  when  happily  governed!  Here  I 
can  point  out  to  you  exertions  of  the  most  suc 
cessful  industry;  instances  of  native  sagacity  un 
assisted 


122  DESCRIPTION  OF 

assisted  by  science;  the  happy  fruits  of  a  well 
directed  perseverance.  It  is  always  a  refreshing 
spectacle  to  me,  when  in  my  review  of  the  vari 
ous  component  parts  of  this  immense  whole,  I 
observe  the  labours  of  its  inhabitants  singularly 
rewarded  by  nature ;  when  I  see  them  emerged 
out  of  their  first  difficulties,  living  with  decency 
and  ease,  and  conveying  to  their  posterity  that 
plentiful  subsistence,  which  their  fathers  have 
so  deservedly  earned.  But  when  their  pros 
perity  arises  from  the  goodness  of  the  climate, 
and  fertility  of  the  soil;  I  partake  of  their  hap 
piness,  it  is  true ;  yet  stay  but  a  little  while  with 
them,  as  they  exhibit  nothing  but  what  is 
natural  and  common.  On  the  contrary,  when 
I  meet  with  barren  spots  fertilized,  grass  grow 
ing  where  none  grew  before;  grain  gathered 
from  fields  which  had  hitherto  produced  noth 
ing  better  than  brambles;  dwellings  raised 
where  no  building  materials  were  to  be  found; 
wealth  acquired  by  the  most  uncommon  means : 
there  I  pause,  to  dwell  on  the  favourite  object 
of  my  speculative  inquiries.  Willingly  do  I 
leave  the  former  to  enjoy  the  odoriferous  fur 
row,  or  their  rich  vallies,  with  anxiety  repair 
ing  to  the  spot,  where  so  many  difficulties  have 
been  overcome;  where  extraordinary  exertions 
have  produced  extraordinary  effects,  and  where 

every 


NANTUCKET.  123 

every  natural  obstacle  has  been  removed  by  a 
vigorous  industry. 

I  want  not  to  record  the  annals  of  the  island 
of  Nantucket — its  inhabitants  have  no  annals, 
for  they  are  not  a  race  of  warriors.  My  simple 
wish  is  to  trace  them  throughout  their  progres 
sive  steps,  from  their  arrival  here  to  this  present 
hour;  to  enquire  by  what  means  they  have 
raised  themselves  from  the  most  humble,  the 
most  insignificant  beginnings,  to  the  ease  and 
the  wealth  they  now  possess;  and  to  give  you 
some  idea  of  their  customs,  religion,  manners, 
policy,  and  mode  of  living. 

This  happy  settlement  was  not  founded  on 
intrusion,  forcible  entries,  or  blood,  as  so  many 
others  have  been ;  it  drew  its  origin  from  neces 
sity  on  the  one  side,  and  from  gpocLwill  on  the 
other;  and  ever  since,  all  has  been  a  scene  of 
uninterrupted  harmony. — Neither  political,  nor 
religious  broils;  neither  disputes  with  the  na 
tives,  nor  any  other  contentions,  have  in  the 
least  agitated  or  disturbed  its  detached  society. 
Yet  the  first  founders  knew  nothing  either  of 
Lycurgus  or  Solon ;  for  this  settlement  has  not 
been  the  work  of  eminent  men  or  powerful 
legislators,  forcing  nature  by  the  accumulated 
labours  of  art.  This  singular  establishment 
has  been  effected  by  means  of  that  native  indus 
try  and  perseverance  common  to  all  men,  when 

they 


i24  DESCRIPTION  OF 

they  are  protected  by  a  government  which  de 
mands  but  little  for  its  protection  -2  when  they 
are  permitted  to  enjoy  a  system  of  rational  laws 
founded  on  perfect  freedom.  The  mildness 
and  humanity  of  such  a  government  necessarily 
implies  that  confidence  which  is  the  source  of 
the  most  arduous  undertakings  and  permanent 
success.  Would  you  believe  that  a  sandy  spot, 
of  about  twenty-three  thousand  acres,  affording 
neither  stones  nor  timber,  meadows  nor  arable, 
yet  can  boast  of  an  handsome  town,  consisting 
of  more  than  500  houses,  should  possess  above 
200  sail  of  vessels,  constantly  employ  upwards 
of  2000  seamen,  feed  more  than  15,000  sheep, 
500  cows,  200  horses;  and  has  several  citizens 
worth  20,000!.  sterling!  Yet  all  these  facts 
are  uncontroverted.  Who  would  have  imagined 
that  any  people  should  have  abandoned  a  fruit 
ful  and  extensive  continent,  filled  with  the  riches 
which  the  most  ample  vegetation  affords;  re 
plete  with  good  soil,  enamelled  meadows,  rich 
pastures,  every  kind  of  timber,  and  with  all 
other  materials  necessary  to  render  life  happy 
and  comfortable:  to  come  and  inhabit  a  little 
sand-bank,  to  which  nature  had  refused  those 
advantages;  to  dwell  on  a  spot  where  there 
scarcely  grew  a  shrub  to  announce,  by  the  bud 
ding  of  its  leaves,  the  arrival  of  the  spring,  and 
to  warn  by  their  fall  the  proximity  of  winter. 

Had 


NANTUCKET.  125 

Had  this  island  been  contiguous  to  the  shores 
of  some  ancient  monarchy,  it  would  only  have 
been  occupied  by  a  few  wretched  fishermen, 
who,  oppressed  by  poverty,  would  hardly  have 
been  able  to  purchase  or  build  little  fishing 
barks;  always  dreading  the  weight  of  taxes,  or 
the  servitude  of  men  of  war.  Instead  of  that 
boldness  of  speculation  for  which  the  inhabi 
tants  of  this  island  are  so  remarkable,  they 
would  fearfully  have  confined  themselves, 
within  the  narrow  limits  of  the  most  trifling 
attempts;  timid  in  their  excursions,  they  never 
could  have  extricated  themselves  from  their  first 
difficulties.  This  island,  on  the  contrary,  con 
tains  5000  hardy  people,  who  boldly  derive 
their  riches  from  the  element  that  surrounds 
them,  and  have  been  compelled  by  the  sterility 
of  the  soil  to  seek  abroad  for  the  means  of  sub 
sistence.  You  must  not  imagine,  from  the  re 
cital  of  these  facts,  that  they  enjoyed  any  ex 
clusive  privileges  or  royal  charters,  or  that  they 
were  nursed  by  particular  immunities  in  the  in 
fancy  of  their  settlement.  No,  their  freedom, 
their  skill,  their  probity,  and  perseverance,  have 
accomplished  every  thing,  and  brought  them  by 
degrees  to  the  rank  they  now  hold. 

From  this  first  sketch,  I  hope  that  my  par 
tiality  to  this  island  will  be  justified.  Perhaps 
you  hardly  know  that  such  ai^  one  exists  in  the 

neighbourhood 


126  DESCRIPTION  OF 

neighbourhood  of  Cape  Cod.  What  has  hap 
pened  here,  has  and  will  happen  every  where 
else.  Give  mankind  the  full  rewards  of  their 
industry,  allow  them  to  enjoy  the  fruit  of  their 
labour  under  the  peaceable  shade  of  their  vines 
and  fig-trees,  leave  their  native  activity  un 
shackled  and  free,  like  a  fair  stream  without 
dams  or  other  obstacles;  the  first  will  fertilize 
the  very  sand  on  which  they  tread,  the  other 
exhibit  a  navigable  river,  spreading  plenty  and 
chearfulness  wherever  the  declivity  of  the 
ground  leads  it.  If  these  people  are  not  famous 
for  tracing  the  fragrant  furrow  on  the  plain, 
they  plough  the  rougher  ocean,  they  gather 
from  its  surface,  at  an  immense  distance,  and 
with  Herculean  labours,  the  riches  it  affords; 
they  go  to  hunt  and  catch  that  huge  fish  which 
by  its  strength  and  velocity  one  would  imagine 
ought  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  man.  This 
island  has  nothing  deserving  of  notice  but  its  in 
habitants;  here  you  meet  with  neither  ancient 
monuments,  spacious  halls,  solemn  temples,  nor 
elegant  dwellings;  not  a  citadel,  nor  any  kind 
of  fortification,  not  even  a  battery  to  rend  the 
air  with  its  loud  peals  on  any  solemn  occasion. 
As  for  their  rural  improvements,  they  are  many, 
but  all  of  the  most  simple  and  useful  kind. 

The  island  of  Nantucketf  lies  in  latitude  41° 
10'.     100  miles  N.  E.  from  Cape  Cod;  27  N. 

from 


NANTUCKET.  127 

from  Hyanes  or  Barnstable,  a  town  on  the  most 
contiguous  part  of  the  great  peninsula;  21 
miles  W.  by  N.  from  Cape  Pog,  on  the  vine 
yard;  50  W.  by  N.  from  Wood's  Hole,  on 
Elizabeth  Island ;  80  miles  N.  from  Boston ;  1 20 
from  Rhode  Island;  800  S.  from  Bermudas. 
Sherborn  is  the  only  town  on  the  island,  which 
consists  of  about  530  houses,  that  have  been 
framed  on  the  main ;  they  are  lathed  and  plais- 
tered  within,  handsomely  painted  and  boarded 
without;  each  has  a  cellar  underneath,  built 
with  stones  fetched  also  from  the  main:  they 
are  all  of  a  similar  construction  and  appear 
ance;  plain,  and  entirely  devoid  of  exterior  or 
interior  ornament.  I  observed  but  one  which 

was  built  of  bricks,  belonging  to  Mr. ,  but 

like  the  rest  it  is  unadorned.  The  town  stands 
on  a  rising  sand-bank,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
harbour,  which  is  very  safe  from  all  winds. 
There  are  two  places  of  worship,  one  for  the 
society  of  Friends,  the  other  for  that  of  Pres 
byterians;  and  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  near 
the  market-place,  stands  a  simple  building, 
which  is  the  county  court-house.  The  town 
regularly  ascends  toward  the  country,  and  in 
its  vicinage  they  have  several  small  fields  and 
gardens  yearly  manured  with  the  dung  of  their 
cows,  and  the  soil  of  their  streets.  There  are  a 
good  many  cherry  and  peach  trees  planted  in 

their 


128  DESCRIPTION  OF 

their  streets  and  in  many  other  places;  the 
apple  tree  does  not  thrive  well,  they  have  there 
fore  planted  but  few.  The  island  contains  no 
mountains,  yet  is  very  uneven,  and  the  many 
rising  grounds  and  eminences  with  which  it  is 
filled,  have  formed  in  the  several  vallies  a  great 
variety  of  swamps,  where  the  Indian  grass  and 
the  blue  bent,  peculiar  to  such  soils,  grow  with 
tolerable  luxuriancy.  Some  of  the  swamps 
abound  with  peat,  which  serves  the  poor  instead 
of  fire-wood.  There  are  fourteen  ponds  on  this 
island,  all  extremely  useful,  some  lying  trans 
versely,  almost  across  it,  which  greatly  helps  to 
divide  it  into  partitions  for  the  use  of  their 
cattle;  others  abound  with  peculiar  fish  and  sea 
fowls.  Their  streets  are  not  paved,  but  this  is 
attended  with  little  inconvenience,  as  it  is  never 
crouded  with  country  carriages;  and  those  they 
have  in  the  town  are  seldom  made  use  of  but 
in  the  time  of  the  coming  in  and  before  the 
sailing  of  their  fleets.  At  my  first  landing  I 
was  much  surprised  at  the  disagreeable  smell 
which  struck  me  in  many  parts  of  the  town;  it 
is  caused  by  the  whale  oil,  and  is  unavoidable; 
the  neatness  peculiar  to  these  people  can  neither 
remove  or  prevent  it.  There  are  near  the 
wharfs  a  great  many  storehouses,  where  their 
staple  commodity  is  deposited,  as  well  as 'the 
innumerable  materials  which  are  always  wanted 

to 


NANTUCKET.  129 

to  repair  and  fit  out  so  many  whalemen.  They 
have  three  docks,  each  three  hundred  feet  long, 
and  extremely  convenient;  at  the  head  of  which 
there  are  ten  feet  of  water.  These  docks  are 
built  like  those  in  Boston,  of  logs  fetched  from 
the  continent,  filled  with  stones,  and  covered 
with  sand.  Between-  these  docks  and  the  town, 
there  is  room  sufficient  for  the  landing  of  goods 
and  for  the  passage  of  their  numerous  carts; 
for  almost  every  man  here  has  one :  the  wharfs 
to  the  north  and  south  of  the  docks,  are  built 
of  the  same  materials,  and  give  a  stranger,  at 
his  first  landing,  an  high  idea  of  the  prosperity 
of  these  people ;  and  there  is  room  around  these 
three  docks  for  300  sail  of  vessels.  When  their 
fleets  have  been  successful,  the  bustle  and  hurry 
of  business  on  this  spot  for  some  days  after 
their  arrival,  would  make  you  imagine,  that 
Sherborn  is  the  capital  of  a  very  opulent  and 
large  province.  On  that  point  of  land,  which 
forms  the  west  side  of  the  harbour,  stands  a 
very  neat  light-house;  the  opposite  peninsula, 
called  Coitou,  secures  it  from  the  most  danger 
ous  winds.  There  are  but  few  gardens  and 
arable  fields  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  town, 
for  nothing  can  be  more  sterile  and  sandy  than 
this  part  of  the  island ;  they  have  however  with 
unwearied  perseverance,  by  bringing  a  variety 
of  manure,  and  by  cow-penning,  enriched  sev 
eral 


130  DESCRIPTION  OF 

eral  spots  where  they  raise  Indian  corn,  pota 
toes,  pumpkins,  turnips,  &c.  On  the  highest 
part  of  this  sandy  eminence,  four  windmills 
grind  the  grain  they  raise  or  import;  and  con 
tiguous  to  them  their  rope  walk  is  to  be  seen, 
where  full  half  of  their  cordage  is  manufac 
tured.  Between  the  shores  of  the  harbour,  the 
docks,  and  the  town,  there  is  a  most  excellent 
piece  of  meadow,  inclosed  and  manured  with 
such  cost  and  pains  as  shew  how  necessary  and 
precious  grass  is  at  Nantucket.  Towards  the 
point  of  Shemah,  the  island  is  more  level  and 
the  soil  better;  and  there  they  have  considerable 
lots  well  fenced  and  richly  manured,  where  they 
diligently  raise  their  yearly  crops.  There  are 
but  very  few  farms  on  this  island,  because  there 
are  but  very  few  spots  that  will  admit  of  culti 
vation  without  the  assistance  of  dung  and  other 
manure;  which  is  very  expensive  to  fetch  from 
the  main.  This  island  was  patented  in  the  year 
1671,  by  twenty-seven  proprietors,  under  the 
province  of  New-York;  which  then  claimed  all 
the  islands  from  the  Neway  Sink  to  Cape  Cod. 
They  found  it  so  universally  barren  and  so  unfit 
for  cultivation,  that  they  mutually  agreed  not 
to  divide  it,  as  each  could  neither  live  on,  nor 
improve  that  lot  which  might  fall  to  his  share. 
They  then  cast  their  eyes  on  the  sea,  and  find 
ing  themselves  obliged  to  become  fishermen, 

they 


NANTUCKET.  131 

they  looked  for  a  harbour,  and  having  found 
one,  they  determined  to  built  a  town  in  its 
neighbourhood  and  to  dwell  together.  For  that 
purpose  they  surveyed  as  much  ground  as  would 
afford  to  each  what  is  generally  called  here  a 
home-lot.  Forty  acres  were  thought  sufficient 
to  answer  this  double  purpose ;  for  to  what  end 
should  they  covet  more  land  than  they  could  im 
prove,  or  even  inclose;  not  being  possessed  of 
a  single  tree,  in  the  whole  extent  of  their  new 
dominion.  This  was  all  the  territorial  property 
they  allotted;  the  rest  they  agreed  to  hold  in 
common,  and  seeing  that  the  scanty  grass  of 
the  island  might  feed  sheep;  they  agreed  that 
each  proprietor  should  be  entitled  to  feed  on  it 
if  he  pleased  560  sheep.  By  this  agreement, 
the  national  flock  was  to  consist  of  15,120;  that 
is  the  undivided  part  of  the  island  was  by  such 
means  ideally  divisible  into  as  many  parts  or 
shares;  to  which  nevertheless  no  certain  deter 
minate  quantity  of  land  was  affixed:  for  they 
knew  not  how  much  the  island  contained,  nor 
could  the  most  judicious  surveyor  fix  this  small 
quota  as  to  quality  and  quantity.  Further  they 
agreed,  in  case  the  grass  should  grow  better  by 
feeding,  that  then  four  sheep  should  represent 
a  cow,  and  two  cows  a  horse :  such  was  the 
method  this  wise  people  took  to  enjoy  in  com 
mon  their  new  settlement ;  such  was  the  mode  of 

their 


132  DESCRIPTION  OF 

their  first  establishment,  which  may  be  truly 
and  literally  called  a  pastoral  one.      Several 
hundred  of  sheep-pasture  titles  have  since  been 
divided  on  those  different  tracks,  which  are  now 
cultivated;  the  rest  by  inheritance  and  inter 
marriages  have  been  so  subdivided  that  it  is 
very  common  for  a  girl  to  have  no  other  por 
tion  but  her  outset  and  four  sheep  pastures  or 
the  privilege  of  feeding  a  cow.     But  as  this 
privilege  is  founded  on  an  ideal,  though  real 
title  to  some  unknown  piece  of  land,  which  one 
day  or  another  may  be  ascertained ;  these  sheep- 
pasture  titles  should  convey  toyourimagination, 
something  more  valuable  and  of  greater  credit 
than   the   mere   advantage    arising    from   the 
benefit  of  a  cow,  which  in  that  case  would  be 
no  more  than  a  right  of  commonage.  Whereas, 
here  as  labour  grows  cheaper,  as  misfortunes 
from  their  sea  adventures  may  happen;  each 
person  possessed  of  a  sufficient  number  of  these 
sheep-pasture  titles,  may  one  day  realize  them 
on  some  peculiar  spot,  such  as  shall  be  adjudged 
by  the  council  of  the  proprietors  to  be  adequate 
to  their  value ;  and  this  is  the  reason  that  these 
people  very  unwillingly  sell  those  small  rights, 
and  esteem  them  more  than  you  would  imagine. 
They  are  the  representation  of  a  future  free 
hold,  they  cherish  in  the  mind  of  the  possessor  a 
latent,  though  distant,  hope,  that  by  his  success 

in 


NANTUCKET.  133 

in  his  next  whale  season,  he  may  be  able  to  pitch 
on  some  predilected  spot,  and  there  build  him 
self  a  home,  to  which  he  may  retire,  and  spend 
the  latter  end  of  his  days  in  peace.  A  council 
of  proprietors  always  exists  in  this  island,  who 
decide  their  territorial  differences;  their  titles 
are  recorded  in  the  books  of  the  county,  which 
this  town  represents,  as  well  as  every  convey 
ance  of  lands  and  other  sales. 

This  island  furnishes  the  naturalist  with  few 
or  no  objects  worthy  observation :  it  appears  to 
be  the  uneven  summit  of  a  sandy  submarine 
mountain,  covered  here  and  there  with  sorrel, 
grass,  a  few  cedar  bushes,  and  scrubby  oaks; 
their  swamps  are  much  more  valuable  for  the 
peat  they  contain,  than  for  the  trifling  pasture 
of  their  surface;  those  declining  grounds  which 
lead  to  the  sea-shores  abound  with  beach  grass, 
a  light  fodder  when  cut  and  cured,  but  very 
good  when  fed  green.  On  the  east  side  of  the 
island  they  have  several  tracks  of  salt  grasses, 
which  being  carefully  fenced,  yield  a  consider 
able  quantity  of  that  wholesome  fodder. 
Among  the  many  ponds  or  lakes  with  which  this 
island  abounds,  there  are  some  which  have  been 
made  by  the  intrusion  of  the  sea,  such  as 
Wiwidiah,  the  Long,  the  Narrow,  and  several 
others;  consequently  those  are  salt  and  the 
others  fresh.  The  former  answer  two  consid 
erable 


i34  DESCRIPTION  OF 

erable  purposes,  first  by  enabling  them  to  fence 
the  island  with  greater  facility;  at  peculiar  high 
tides  a  great  number  of  fish  enter  into  them, 
where  they  feed  and  grow  large,  and  at  some 
known  seasons  of  the  year  the  inhabitants  as 
semble  and  cut  down  the  small  bars  which  the 
waves  always  throw  up.  By  these  easy  means 
the  waters  of  the  pond  are  let  out,  and  as  the 
fish  follow  their  native  element,  the  inhabitants 
with  proper  nets  catch  as  many  as  they  want,  in 
their  way  out,  without  any  other  trouble.  Those 
which  are  most  common,  are  the  streaked  bass, 
the  blue  fish,  the  torn-cod,  the  mackerel,  the 
tew-tag,  the  herring,  the  flounder,  eel,  &c.  Fish 
ing  is  one  of  the  greatest  diversions  the  island 
affords.  At  the  west  end  lies  the  harbour  of 
Mardiket,  formed  by  Smith  Point  on  the  south 
west,  by  Eel  Point  on  the  north,  and  Tuckamit 
Island  on  the  north-west;  but  it  is  neither  so 
safe  nor  has  it  so  good  anchoring  ground,  as 
that  near  which  the  town  stands.  Three  small 
creeks  run  into  it,  which  yield  the  bitterest  eels 
I  have  ever  tasted.  Between  the  lotts  of  Pal 
pus  on  the  east,  Barry's  Valley  and  Miacomet 
pond  on  the  south,  and  the  narrow  pond  on  the 
west,  not  far  from  Shemah  Point,  they  have  a 
considerable  track  of  even  ground,  being  the 
least  sandy,  and  the  best  on  the  island.  It  is  di 
vided  into  seven  fields,  one  of  which  is  planted 

by 


NANTUCKET.  135 

by  that  part  of  the  community  which  are  en 
titled  to  it.  This  is  called  the  common  planta 
tion,  a  simple  but  useful  expedient,  for  was 
each  holder  of  this  track  to  fence  his  property, 
it  would  require  a  prodigious  quantity  of  posts 
and  rails,  which  you  must  remember  are  to  be 
purchased  and  fetched  from  the  main.  Instead 
of  those  private  subdivisions  each  man's  allot 
ment  of  land  is  thrown  into  the  general  field 
which  is  fenced  at  the  expence  of  the  parties; 
within  it  every  one  does  with  his  own  portion  of 
the  ground  whatever  he  pleases.  This  apparent 
community  saves  a  very  material  expence,  a 
great  deal  of  labour,  and  perhaps  raises  a  sort 
of  emulation  among  them,  which  urges  every 
one  to  fertilize  his  share  with  the  greatest  care 
and  attention.  Thus  every  seven  years  the 
whole  of  this  track  is  under  cultivation,  and  en 
riched  by  manure  and  ploughing  yields  after 
wards  excellent  pasture;  to  which  the  town 
cows,  amounting  to  500  are  daily  led  by  the 
town  shepherd,  and  as  regularly  drove  back  in 
the  evening.  There  each  animal  easily  finds 
the  house  to  which  it  belongs,  where  they  are 
sure  to  be  well  rewarded  for  the  milk  they  give, 
by  a  present  of  bran,  grain,  or  some  farinaceous 
preparation;  their  oeconomy  being  very  great 
in  that  respect.  These  are  commonly  called 
Tetoukemah  lotts.  You  must  not  imagine  that 

every 


136  DESCRIPTION  OF 

every  person  on  the  island  is  either  a  land 
holder,  or  concerned  in  rural  operations ;  no,  the 
greater  part  are  at  sea ;  busily  employed  in  their 
different  fisheries;  others  are  mere  strangers, 
who  come  to  settle  as  handicrafts,  mechanics, 
&c.  and  even  among  the  natives  few  are  pos 
sessed  of  determinate  shares  of  land:  for  en 
gaged  in  sea  affairs,  or  trade,  they  are  satisfied 
with  possessing  a  few  sheep  pastures,  by  means 
of  which  they  may  have  perhaps  one  or  two 
cows.  Many  have  but  one,  for  the  great  num 
ber  of  children  they  have,  has  caused  such  sub 
divisions  of  the  original  proprietorship  as  is 
sometimes  puzzling  to  trace ;  and  several  of  the 
most  fortunate  at  sea,  have  purchased  and 
realized  a  great  number  of  these  original  pas 
ture  titles.  The  best  land  on  the  island  is  at 
Palpus,  remarkable  for  nothing  but  a  house 
of  entertainment.  Quayes  is  a  small  but 
valuable  track,  long  since  purchased  by  Mr. 
Coffin,  where  he  has  erected  the  best  house  on 
the  island.  By  long  attention,  proximity  of  the 
sea,  &c.  this  fertile  spot  has  been  well  manured, 
and  is  now  the  garden  of  Nantucket.  Adjoin 
ing  to  it  on  the  west  side  there  is  a  small  stream, 
on  which  they  have  erected  a  fulling  mill;  on 
the  east  is  the  lott,  known  by  the  name  of 
Squam,  watered  likewise  by  a  small  rivulet,  on 
which  stands  another  fulling  mill.  Here  is  fine 

loamy 


NANTUCKET.  137 

loamy  soil,  producing  excellent  clover,  which 
is  mowed  twice  a  year.  These  mills  prepare  all 
the  cloth  which  is  made  here:  you  may  easily 
suppose  that  having  so  large  a  flock  of  sheep, 
they  abound  in  wool;  part  of  this  they  export, 
and  the  rest  is  spun  by  their  industrious  wives, 
and  converted  into  substantial  garments.  To 
the  south-east  is  a  great  division  of  the  island, 
fenced  by  itself,  known  by  the  name  of  Sias- 
concet  lott.  It  is  a  very  uneven  track  of  ground, 
abounding  with  swamps ;  here  they  turn  in  their 
fat  cattle,  or  such  as  they  intend  to  stall-feed, 
for  their  winter's  provisions.  It  is  on  the  shores 
of  this  part  of  the  island,  near  Pochick  Rip, 
where  they  catch  their  best  fish,  such  as  sea  bass, 
tew-tag,  or  black  fish,  cod,  smelt,  perch, 
shadine,  pike,  &c.  They  have  erected  a  few 
fishing  houses  on  this  shore,  as  well  as  at  San- 
kate's  Head,  and  Suffakatche  Beach,  where  the 
fishermen  dwell  in  the  fishing  season.  Many 
red  cedar  bushes  and  beach  grass  grow  on  the 
peninsula  of  Coitou;  the  soil  is  light  and  sandy, 
and  serves  as  a  receptacle  for  rabbits.  It  is  here 
that  their  sheep  find  shelter  in  the  snow  storms 
of  the  winter.  At  the  north  end  of  Nantucket, 
there  is  a  long  point  of  land,  projecting  far  into 
the  sea,  called  Sandy  Point;  nothing  grows  on 
it  but  plain  grass;  and  this  is  the  place  from 
whence  they  often  catch  porpoises  and  sharks, 

by 


i38  DESCRIPTION  OF 

by  a  very  ingenious  method.  On  this  point 
they  commonly  drive  their  horses  in  the  spring 
of  the  year,  in  order  to  feed  on  the  grass  it 
bears,  which  is  useless  when  arrived  at  maturity. 
Between  that  point  and  the  main  island  they 
have  a  valuable  salt  meadow,  called  Croskaty, 
with  a  pond  of  the  same  name  famous  for 
black  ducks.  Hence  we  must  return  to  Squam, 
which  abounds  in  clover  and  herds  grass;  those 
who  possess  it  follow  no  maritime  occupation, 
and  therefore  neglect  nothing  that  can  render 
it  fertile  and  profitable.  The  rest  of  the  un- 
described  part  of  the  island  is  open,  and  serves* 
as  a  common  pasture  for  their  sheep.  To  the 
west  of  the  island  is  that  of  Tackanuck,  where 
in  the  spring  their  young  cattle  are  driven  to 
feed;  it  has  a  few  oak  bushes  and  two  fresh 
water  ponds,  abounding  with  teals,  brandts,  and 
many  other  sea  fowls,  brought  to  this  island 
by  the  proximity  of  their  sand  banks  and  shal 
lows;  where  thousands  are  seen  feeding  at  low- 
water.  Here  they  have  neither  wolves  nor 
foxes;  those  inhabitants  therefore  who  live  out 
of  town,  raise  with  all  security  as  much  poultry 
as  they  want;  their  turkeys  are  very  large  and 
excellent.  In  summer  this  climate  is  extremely 
pleasant;  they  are  not  exposed  to  the  scorching 
sun  of  the  continent,  the  heats  being  tempered 
by  the  sea  breezes,  with  which  they  are  per 
petually 


NANTUCKET.  139 

petually  refreshed.  In  the  winter,  however, 
they  pay  severely  for  those  advantages;  it  is 
extremely  cold ;  the  north-west  wind,  the  tyrant 
of  this  country,  after  having  escaped  from  our 
mountains  and  forests,  free  from  all  impedi 
ment  in  its  short  passage,  blows  with  redoubled 
force  and  renders  this  island  bleak  and  uncom 
fortable.  On  the  other  hand,  the  goodness  of 
their  houses,  the  social  hospitality  of  their  fire 
sides,  and  their  good  cheer,  make  them  ample 
amends  for  the  severity  of  the  season;  nor  are 
the  snows  so  deep  as  on  the  main.  The  neces 
sary  and  unavoidable  inactivity  of  that  season, 
combined  with  the  vegetative  rest  of  nature, 
force  mankind  to  suspend  their  toils:  often  at 
this  season  more  than  half  the  inhabitants  of 
the  island  are  at  sea,  fishing  in  milder  latitudes. 
This  island,  as  has  been  already  hinted,  ap 
pears  to  be  the  summit  of  some  huge  sandy 
mountain,  affording  some  acres  of  dry  land  for 
the  habitation  of  man;  other  submarine  ones 
lie  to  the  southward  of  this,  at  different  depths 
and  different  distances.  This  dangerous  region 
is  well  known  to  the  manners  by  the  name  of 
Nantucket  Shoals:  these  are  the  bulwarks  which 
so  powerfully  defend  this  island  from  the  im 
pulse  of  the  mighty  ocean,  and  repel  the  force 
of  its  waves;  which,  but  for  the  accumulated 
barriers,  would  ere  now  have  dissolved  its 

foundations, 


140  DESCRIPTION  OF 

foundations,  and  torn  it  in  pieces.  These  are 
the  banks  which  afforded  to  the  first  inhabitants 
of  Nantucket  their  daily  subsistence,  as  it  was 
from  these  shoals  that  they  drew  the  origin  of 
that  wealth  which  they  now  possess;  and  was 
the  school  where  they  first  learned  how  to  ven 
ture  farther,  as  the  fish  of  their  coast  receded. 
The  shores  of  this  island  abound  with  the  soft- 
shelled,  the  hard-shelled,  and  the  great  sea 
clams,  a  most  nutricious  shell-fish.  Their  sands, 
their  shallows  are  covered  with  them;  they 
multiply  so  fast,  that  they  are  a  never  failing- 
resource.  These  and  the  great  variety  of  fish 
they  catch,  constitute  the  principal  food  of  the 
inhabitants.  It  was  likewise  that  of  the 
aborigines,  whom  the  first  settlers  found  here; 
the  posterity  of  whom  still  live  together  in 
decent  houses  along  the  shores  of  Miacomet 
pond,  on  the  south  side  of  the  island.  They 
are  an  industrious,  harmless  race,  as  expert  and 
as  fond  of  a  seafaring  life  as  their  fellow  in 
habitants  the  whites.  Long  before  their  ar 
rival  they  had  been  engaged  in  petty  wars 
against  one  another;  the  latter  brought  them 
peace,  for  it  was  in  quest  of  peace  that  they 
abandoned  the  main.  This  island  was  then 
supposed  to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  New- 
York,  as  well  as  the  islands  of  the  Vineyard, 
Elizabeth's,  &c.  but  have  been  since  adjudged 

to 


NANTUCKET.  141 

to  be  a  part  of  the  province  of  Massachu 
setts-Bay.  This  change  of  jurisdiction  pro 
cured  them  that  peace  they  wanted,  and  which 
their  brethren  had  so  long  refused  them  in  the 
days  of  their  religious  frenzy:  thus  have  en 
thusiasm  and  persecution  both  in  Europe  as  well 
as  here,  been  the  cause  of  the  most  arduous 
undertakings,  and  the  means  of  those  rapid 
settlements  which  have  been  made  along  these 
extended  sea-shores.  This  island,  having  been 
since  incorporated  with  the  neighbouring  prov 
ince,  is  become  one  of  its  counties,  known  by 
the  name  of  Nantucket,  as  well  as  the  island  of 
the  Vineyard,  by  that  of  Duke's  County.  They 
enjoy  here  the  same  municipal  establishment  in 
common  with  the  rest;  and  therefore  every 
requisite  officer,  such  as  sheriff,  justice  of  the 
peace,  supervisors,  assessors,  constables,  over 
seer  of  the  poor,  &c.  Their  taxes  are  propor 
tioned  to  those  of  the  metropolis,  they  are 
levied  as  with  us  by  valuations,  agreed  on  and 
fixed,  according  to  the  laws  of  the  province; 
and  by  assessments  formed  by  the  assessors, 
who  are  yearly  chosen  by  the  people,  and  whose 
office  obliges  them  to  take  either  an  oath  or  an 
affirmation.  Two  thirds  of  the  magistrates 
they  have  here  are  of  the  society  of  Friends. 

Before  I  enter  into  the  further  detail  of  this 
people's  government,  industry,  mode  of  living, 

&c.   I 


i42  DESCRIPTION  OF 

&c.  I  think  it  necessary  to  give  you  a  short 
sketch  of  the  political  state  the  natives  had  been 
in,  a  few  years  preceding  the  arrival  of  the 
whites  among  them.  They  are  hastening  tow 
ards  a  total  annihilation,  and  this  may  be  per 
haps  the  last  compliment  that  will  ever  be  paid 
them  by  any  traveller.  They  were  not  extir 
pated  by  fraud,  violence,  or  injustice,  as  hafc^i 
•v  /been  the  case  in  so  many  provinces;  on  the  con- 
y  trary,  they  have  been  treated  by  these  people  as 
brethren;  the  peculiar  genius  of  their  sect  in 
spiring  them  with  the  same  spirit  of  moderation 
which  was  exhibited  at  Pensylvania.  Before 
the  arrival  of  the  Europeans,  they  lived  on  the 
fish  of  their  shores;  and  it  was  from  the  same 
resources  the  first  settlers  were  compelled  to 
draw  their  first  subsistence.  It  is  uncertain 
whether  the  original  right  of  the  Earl  of  Sterl 
ing,  or  that  of  the  Duke  of  York,  was  founded 
on  a  fair  purchase  of  the  soil  or  not;  whatever 
injustice  might  have  been  committed  in  that 
respect,  cannot  be  charged  to  the  account  of 
those  Friends  who  purchased  from  others  who 
no  doubt  founded  their  right  on  Indian  grants : 
and  if  their  numbers  are  now  so  decreased,  it 
must  not  be  attributed  either  to  tyranny  or 
violence,  but  to  some  of  those  causes,  which 
have  uninterruptedly  produced  the  same  effects 
from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other, 

wherever 


NANTUCKET.  143 

wherever  both  nations  have  been  mixed.  This 
insignificant  spot,  like  the  sea-shores  of  the 
great  peninsula,  was  filled  with  these  people; 
the  great  plenty  of  clams,  oysters,  and  other 
fish,  on  which  they  lived,  and  which  they  easily 
catched,  had  prodigiously  increased  their  num 
bers.  History  does  not  inform  us  what  par 
ticular  nation  the  aborigines  of  Nantucket  were 
of;  it  is  however  very  probable  that  they  an 
ciently  emigrated  from  the  opposite  coast,  per 
haps  from  the  Hyannees,  which  is  but  twenty- 
seven  miles  distant.  As  they  then  spoke  and 
still  speak  the  Nattick,  it  is  reasonable  to  sup 
pose  that  they  must  have  had  some  affinity  with 
that  nation;  or  else  that  the  Nattick,  like  the 
Huron,  in  the  north-western  parts  of  this  con 
tinent,  must  have  been  the  most  prevailing  one 
in  this  region.  Mr.  Elliot,  an  eminent  New 
England  divine,  and  one  of  the  first  founders 
of  that  great  colony,  translated  the  Bible  into 
this  language,  in  the  year  1666,  which  was 
printed  soon  after  at  Cambridge,  near  Boston; 
he  translated  also  the  catechism,  and  many 
other  useful  books,  which  are  still  very  com 
mon  on  this  island,  and  are  daily  made  use  of 
by  those  Indians  who  are  taught  to  read.  The 
young  Europeans  learn  it  with  the  same  facility 
as  their  own  tongues;  and  ever  after  speak  it 
both  with  ease  and  fluency.  Whether  the  pres 
ent 


i44  DESCRIPTION  OF 

ent  Indians  are  the  descendants  of  the  ancient 
natives  of  the  island,  or  whether  they  are  the 
remains  of  the  many  different  nations  which 
once  inhabited  the  regions  of  Mashpe  and 
Nobscusset,  in  the  peninsula  now  known  by  the 
name  of  Cape  Cod;  no  one  can  positively  tell, 
not  even  themselves.  The  last  opinion  seems  to 
be  that  of  the  most  sensible  people  of  the 
island.  So  prevailing  is  the  disposition  of  man 
to  quarrel,  and  shed  blood;  so  prone  is  he  to 
divisions  and  parties;  that  even  the  ancient 
natives  of  this  little  spot  were  separated  into 
two  communities,  inveterately  waging  war 
against  each  other,  like  the  more  powerful 
tribes  of  the  continent.  What  do  you  imagine 
was  the  cause  of  this  national  quarrel?  All  the 
coast  of  their  island  equally  abounded  with  the 
same  quantity  of  fish  and  clams;  in  that  instance 
there  could  be  no  jealousy,  no  motives  to  anger; 
the  country  afforded  them  no  game ;  one  would 
think  this  ought  to  have  been  the  country  of 
harmony  and  peace.  But  behold  the  singular 
destiny  of  the  human  kind,  ever  inferior,  in 
many  instances,  to  the  more  certain  instinct  of 
animals;  among  which  the  individuals  of  the 
same  species  are  always  friends,  though  reared 
in  different  climates :  they  understand  the  same 
language,  they  shed  not  each  other's  blood,  they 
eat  not  each  other's  flesh.  That  part  of  these 

rude 


NANTUCKET.  145 

rude  people  who  lived  on  the  eastern  shores  of 
the  island,  had  from  time  immemorial  tried  to 
destroy  those  who  lived  on  the  west;  those  latter 
inspired  with  the  same  evil  genius,  had  not  been 
behind  hand  in  retaliating:  thus  was  a  per 
petual  war  subsisting  between  these  people, 
founded  on  no  other  reason,  but  the  adven 
titious  place  of  their  nativity  and  residence.  In 
process  of  time  both  parties  became  so  thin  and 
depopulated,  that  the  few  who  remained,  fear 
ing  lest  their  race  should  become  totally  extinct, 
fortunately  thought  of  an  expedient  which  pre 
vented  their  entire  annihilation.  Some  years 
before  the  Europeans  came,  they  mutually 
agreed  to  settle  a  partition  line  which  should 
divide  the  island  from  north  to  .south ;  the  peo 
ple  of  the  west  agreed  not  to  kill  those  of  the 
east,  except  they  were  found  transgressing  over 
the  western  part  of  the  line;  those  of  the  last 
entered  into  a  reciprocal  agreement.  By  these 
simple  means  peace  was  established  among 
them,  and  this  is  the  only  record  which  seems 
to  entitle  them  to  the  denomination  of  men. 
This  happy  settlement  put  a  stop  to  their  san 
guinary  depredations,  none  fell  afterward  but 
a  few  rash  imprudent  individuals;  on  the  con 
trary,  they  multiplied  greatly.  But  another 
misfortune  awaited  them ;  when  the  Europeans 
came  they  caught  the  small  pox,  and  their  im 
proper 


146  DESCRIPTION  OF 

proper  treatment  of  that  disorder  swept  away 
great  numbers :  this  calamity  was  succeeded  by 
the  use  of  rum ;  and  these  are  the  two  principal 
causes  which  so  much  diminished  their  num 
bers,  not  only  here  but  all  over  the  continent. 
In  some  places  whole  nations  have  disappeared. 
Some  years  ago  three  Indian  canoes,  on  their 
return  to  Detroit  from  the  falls  of  Niagara,  un 
luckily  got  the  small  pox  from  the  Europeans 
with  whom  they  had  traded.  It  broke  out  near 
the  long  point  on  lake  Erie,  there  they  all 
perished;  their  canoes,  and  their  goods,  were 
afterwards  found  by  some  travellers  journey 
ing  the  same  way;  their  dogs  were  still  alive. 
Besides  the  small  pox,  and  the  use  of  spirituous 
liquors,  the  two  greatest  curses  they  have  re 
ceived  from  us,  there  is  a  sort  of  physical  an 
tipathy,  which  is  equally  powerful  from  one 
end  of  the  continent  to  the  other.  Wherever 
they  happen  to  be  mixed,  or  even  to  live  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Europeans,  they  become 
exposed  to  a  variety  of  accidents  and  misfor 
tunes  to  which  they  always  fall  victims :  such  are 
particular  fevers,  to  which  they  were  strangers 
before,  and  sinking  into  a  singular  sort  of  in- 
dplence  and  sloth.  This  has  been  invariably 
the  case  wherever  the  same  association  has 
taken  place;  as  at  Nattick,  Mashpe,  Soccanoket 
in  the  bounds  of  Falmouth,  Nobscusset,  Houra- 

tonick, 


NANTUCKET.  147 

tonick,  Monhauset,  and  the  Vineyard.  Even 
the  Mohawks  themselves,  who  were  once  so 
populous,  and  such  renowned  warriors,  are  now 
reduced  to  less  than  200  since  the  European 
settlements  have  circumscribed  the  territories 
which  their  ancestors  had  reserved.  Three 
years  before  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans  at 
Cape  Cod,  a  frightful  distemper  had  swept 
away  a  great  many  along  its  coasts,  which 
made  the  landing  and  intrusion  of  our  fore 
fathers  much  easier  than  it  otherwise  might 
have  been.  In  the  year  1763,  above  half  of 
the  Indians  of  this  island  perished  by  a  strange 
fever,  which  the  Europeans  who  nursed  them 
never  caught;  they  appear  to  be  a  race  doomed 
to  recede  and  disappear  before  the  superior 
genius  of  the  Europeans.  The  only  ancient 
custom  of  these  people  that  is  remembered  is, 
that  in  their  mutual  exchanges,  forty  sun-dried 
clams,  strung  on  a  string,  passed  for  the  value 
of  what  might  be  called  a  copper.  They  were 
strangers  to  the  use  and  value  of  wampum,  so 
well  known  to  those  of  the  main.  The  few 
families  now  remaining  are  meek  and  harmless  ; 
their  ancient  ferocity  is  gone:  they  were  early 
christianized  by  the  New  England  missionaries, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  Vineyard,  and  of  several 
other  parts  of  Massachusets;  and  to  this  day 
they  remain  strict  observers  of  the  laws  and  cus 
toms 


148  DESCRIPTION  OF 

toms  of  that  religion,  being  carefully  taught 
while  young.  Their  sedentary  life  has  led 
them  to  this  degree  of  civilization  much  more 
effectually,  than  if  they  had  still  remained 
hunters.  They  are  fond  of  the  sea,  and  expert 
mariners.  They  have  learned  from  the 
Quakers  the  art  of  catching  both  the  cod  and 
whale,  in  consequence  of  which,  five  of  them 
always  make  part  of  the  complement  of  men 
requisite  to  fit  out  a  whale-boat.  Many  have 
removed  hither  from  the  Vineyard,  on  which 
account  they  are  more  numerous  on  Nantucket, 
than  any  where  else. 

It  is  strange  what  revolution  has  happened 
among  them  in  less  than  two  hundred  years! 
What  is  become  of  those  numerous  tribes  which 
formerly  inhabited  the  extensive  shores  of  the 
great  bay  of  Ma»ssachusets?  Even  from  Num- 
keag  (Salem) ,  Saugus  (  Lynn),  Shawmut 
(Boston),  Pataxet,  Napouset  (Milton),  Ma- 
tapan  (Dorchester),  Winesimet  (Chelsea) , 
Poiasset,  Pokanoket  (New  Plymouth),  Sueca- 
nosset  (Falmouth),  Titicut  (Chatham),  Nob- 
scusset  (Yarmouth),  Naussit  (Eastham),  Hy- 
annees  (Barnstable),  &C;  and  many  others  who 
lived  on  sea-shores  of  above  three  hundred 
miles  in  length ;  without  mentioning  those  pow 
erful  tribes  which  once  dwelt  between  the  rivers 
Hudson,  Connecticut,  Piskataqua,  and  Kenne- 

beck, 


NANTUCKET.  149 

beck,  the  Mehikaudret,  Mohiguine,  Pequods, 
Narragansets,  Nianticks,  Massachusets,  Wam- 
ponougs,  Nipnets,  Tarranteens,  &c. — They 
are  gone,  and  every  memorial  of  them  is  lost; 
no  vestiges  whatever  are  left  of  those  swarms 
which  once  inhabited  this  country,  and  replen 
ished  both  sides  of  the  great  peninsula  of  Cape 
Cod:  not  even  one  of  the  posterity  of  the 
famous  Masconomeo  is  left  (the  sachem  of 
Cape  Ann)  ;  not  one  of  the  descendants  of 
Massasoit,  father  of  Metacomet  (Philip),  and 
Wamsutta  (Alexander),  he  who  first  conveyed 
some  lands  to  the  Plymouth  Company.  They 
have  all  disappeared  either  in  the  wars  which 
the  Europeans  carried  on  against  them,  or  else 
they  have  mouldered  away,  gathered  in  some 
of  their  ancient  towns,  in  contempt  and  ob 
livion  :  nothing  remains  of  them  all,  but  one  ex 
traordinary  monument,  and  even  this  they 
owe  to  the  industry  and  religious  zeal  of  the 
Europeans,  I  mean  the  Bible  translated  into  the 
Nattick  tongue.  Many  of  these  tribes  giving 
way  to  the  superior  power  of  the  whites,  retired 
to  their  ancient  villages,  collecting  the  scattered 
remains  of  nations  once  populous;  and  in  their 
grant  of  lands  reserved  to  themselves  and  pos 
terity  certain  portions,  which  lay  contiguous 
to  them.  There  forgetting  their  ancient  man 
ners,  they  dwelt  in  peace;  in  a  few  years  their 

territories 


150  DESCRIPTION  OF 

territories  were  surrounded  by  the  improve 
ments  of  the  Europeans;  in  consequence  of 
which  the  grew  lazy,  inactive,  unwilling,  and 
unapt  to  imitate,  or  to*  follow  any  of  our  trades, 
and  in  a  few  generations,  either  totally  per 
ished  or  else  came  over  to  the  Vineyard,  or  to 
this  island,  to  re-unite  themselves  with  such  soci 
eties  of  their  countrymen  as  would  receive 
them.  Such  has  been  the  fate  of  many  nations, 
once  warlike  and  independent;  what  we  see 
now  on  the  main,  or  on  those  islands,  may  be 
justly  considered  as  the  only  remains  of  those 
ancient  tribes.  Might  I  be  permitted  to  pay 
perhaps  a  very  useless  compliment  to  those 
at  least  who  inhabited  the  great  peninsula  of 
Namset,  now  Cape  Cod,  with  whose  names 
and  ancient  situation  I  am  well  acquainted. 
This  peninsula  was  divided  into  two  great  re 
gions;  that  on  the  side  of  the  bay  was  known 
by  the  name  of  Nobscusset,  from  one  of  its 
towns;  the  capital  was  called  Nausit  (now 
Eastham)  ;  hence  the  Indians  of  that  region 
were  called  Nausit  Indians,  though  they  dwelt 
in  the  villages  of  Pamet,  Nosset,  Pashee,  Po- 
tomaket,  Soktoowoket,  Nobscusset  (Yar 
mouth)  . 

The  region  on  the  Atlantic  side  was  called 
Mashpee,  and  contained  the  tribes  of  Hyan- 
nees,  Costowet,  \Yaquoit,  Scootin,  Saconasset, 

Mashpee 


NANTUCKET. 

Mashpee,  and  Namset.  Several  of  these  Indian 
towns  have  been  since  converted  into  flourish 
ing  European  settlements,  known  by  different 
names ;  for  as  the  natives  were  excellent  judges 
of  land,  which  they  had  fertilized  besides  with 
the  shells  of  their  fish,  &c.  the  latter  could 
not  make  a  better  choice;  though  in  general 
this  great  peninsula  is  but  a  sandy  pine  track, 
a  few  good  spots  excepted.  It  is  divided  into 
seven  townships,  viz.  Barnstable,  Yarmouth, 
Harwich,  Chatham,  Eastham,  Pamet,  Nam- 
set,  or  Province  town,  at  the  extremity  of 
the  Cape.  Yet  these  are  very  populous,  though 
I  am  at  a  loss  to  conceive  on  what  the  inha 
bitants  live,  besides  clams,  oysters,  and  fish; 
their  piny  lands  being  the  most  ungrateful  soil 
in  the  world.  The  minister  of  Namset  or  Pro 
vince  Town,  receives  from  the  government  of 
Massachuset  a  salary  of  fifty  pounds  per  an 
num;  and  such  is  the  poverty  of  the  inhabitants 
of  that  place,  that,  unable  to  pay  him  any 
money,  each  master  of  a  family  is  obliged  to 
allow  him  two  hundred  horse  feet  (sea  spin) 
with  which  this  primitive  priest  fertilizes  the 
land  of  his  glebe,  which  he  tills  himself:  for 
nothing  will  grow  on  these  hungry  soils  with 
out  the  assistance  of  this  extraordinary  manure, 
fourteen  bushels  of  Indian  corn  being  looked 
upon  as  a  good  crop.  But  it  is  time  to  return 

from 


152  DESCRIPTION  OF 

from  a  digression,  which  I  hope  you  will  par 
don.  Nantucket  is  a  great  nursery  of  seamen, 
pilots,  coasters,  and  bank-fishermen;  as  a 
country  belonging  to  the  province  of  Massa- 
chusets,  it  has  yearly  the  benefit  of  a  court  of 
Common  Pleas,  and  their  appeal  lies  to  the 
supreme  court  at  Boston.  I  observed  before, 
that  the  Friends  compose  two  thirds  of  the 
magistracy  of  thte  island;  thus  they  are  the 
proprietors  of  its  territory^  and  the  principal 
rulers  of  its  inhabitants;  but  with  all  this  ap 
paratus  of  law,  its  coercive  powers  are  seldom 
wanted  or  required.  Seldom  is  it  that  any 
individual  is  amerced  or  punished;  their  jail 
conveys  no  terror;  no  man  has  lost  his  life  here 
judicially  since  the  foundation  of  this  town, 
1  which  is  upwards  of  an  hundred  years.  So 
lemn  tribunals,  public  executions,  humiliating 
punishments,  are  altogether  unknown.  I  saw 
neither  governors,  nor  any  pageantry  of  state; 
neither  ostentatious  magistrates,  nor  any  indi 
viduals  cloathed  with  useless  dignity:  no  arti 
ficial  phantoms  subsist  here  either  civil  or  re 
ligious;  no  gibbets  loaded  with  guilty  citizens 
offer  themselves  to  your  view;  no  soldiers  are 
appointed  to  bayonet  their  compatriots  into 
servile  compliance.  But  how  is  a  society 
composed  of  5000  individuals  preserved  in  the 
bonds  of  peace  and  tranquility?  How  are 

the 


NANTUCKET.  153 

the  weak  protected  from  the  strong? — I  will 
tell  you.  Idleness  and  poverty,  the  causes  of 
so  many  crimes,  are  unknown  here;  each 
seeks  in  the  prosecution  of  his  lawful  business 
that  honest  gain  which  supports  them;  every 
period  of  their  time  is  full,  either  on  shore 
or  at  sea.  A  probable  expectation  of  reason 
able  profits,  or  of  kindly  assistance,  if  they 
fail  of  success,  renders  them  strangers  to  licen 
tious  expedients.  The  simplicity  of  their 
manners  shortens  the  catalogues  of  their  wants; 
the  law  at  a  distance  is  ever  ready  to  exert 
itself  in  the  protection  of  those  who  stand  in 
need  of  its  assistance.  The  greatest  part  of 
them  are  always  at  sea,  pursuing  the  whale  or 
raising  the  cod  from  the  surface  of  the  banks: 
some  cultivate  their  little  farms  with  the  ut 
most  diligence;  some  are  employed  in  exercis 
ing  various  trades;  others  again  in  providing 
every  necessary  resource  in  order  to  refit  their 
vessels,  or  repair  what  misfortunes  may  happen, 
looking  out  for  future  markets,  &c.  Such 
is  the  rotation  of  those  different  scenes  of  busi 
ness  which  fill  the  measure  of  their  days;  of 
that  part  of  their  lives  at  least  which  is  en 
livened  by  health,  spirits,  and  vigour, 
but  seldom  that  vice  grows  on  a  barren  sand 
like  this,  which  produces  nothing  without  ex 
treme  labour.  How  could  the  common  follies 

of 


s  en- 
It  is      i 
sand     I 


i54  DESCRIPTION  OF 

of  society  take  root  in  so  despicable  a  soil; 
they  generally  thrive  on  its  exuberant  juices: 
here  there  are  none  but  those  which  admin 
ister  to  the  useful,  to  the  necessary,  and  to 
the  indispensable  comforts  of  life.  This  land 
must  necessarily  either  produce  health,  tempe 
rance,  and  a  great  equality  of  conditions,  or  the 
most  abject  misery.  Could  the  manners  of  lux 
urious  countries  be  imported  here,  like  an  epi 
demical  disorder  they  would  destroy  every 
thing;  the  majority  of  them  could  not  exist  a 
month,  they  would  be  obliged  to  emigrate.  As 
in  all  societies  except  that  of  the  natives,  some 
difference  must  necessarily  exist  between  indivi 
dual  and  individual,  for  there  must  be  some 
more  exalted  than  the  rest  either  by  their  riches 
or  their  talents;  so  in  this,  there  are  what  you 
might  call  the  high,  the  middling,  and  the  low; 
and  this  difference  will  always  be  more  re 
markable  among  people  who  live  by  sea  ex 
cursions  than  among  those  who  live  by  the 
cultivation  of  their  land.  The  first  run  greater 
hazard,  and  adventure  more :  the  profits  and  the 
misfortunes  attending  this  mode  of  life  must 
necessarily  introduce  a  greater  disparity  than 
among  the  latter,  where  the  equal  divisions  of 
the  land  offers  no  short  road  to  superior  riches. 
The  only  difference  that  may  arise  among  them 
is  that  of  industry,  and  perhaps  of  superior 

goodness 


NANTUCKET.  155 

goodness  of  soil:  the  gradations  I  observed 
here,  are  founded  on  nothing  more  than  the 
good  or  ill  success  of  their  maritime  enterprizes, 
and  do  not  proceed  from  education ;  that  is  the 
same  throughout  every  class,  simple,  useful,  and 
unadorned  like  their  dress  and  their  houses. 
This  necessary  difference  in  their  fortunes  does 
not  however  cause  those  heart  burnings,  which 
in  other  societies  generate  crimes.  The  sea 
which  surrounds  them  is  equally  open  to  all, 
and  presents  to  all  an  equal  title  to  the  chance 
of  good  fortune.  A  collector  from  Boston  is 
the  only  king's  officer  who  appears  on  these 
shores  to  receive  the  trifling  duties  which  this 
community  owe  to  those  who  protect  them, 
and  under  the  shadow  of  whose  wings  they  navi 
gate  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 


LETTER 


156  EDUCATION,  &C. 


LETTER  V. 

CUSTOMARY  EDUCATION  AND  EMPLOYMENT 
OF  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  NANTUCKET. 

THE  easiest  way  of  becoming  ac 
quainted  with  the  modes  of  thinking, 
the  rules  of  conduct,  and  the  prevail 
ing  manners  of  any  people,  is  to  examine  what 
sort  of  education  they  give  their  children ;  how 
they  treat  them  at  home,  and  what  they  are 
taught  in  their  places  of  public  worship.  At 
home  their  tender  minds  must  be  early  struck 
with  the  gravity,  the  serious  though  chearful  de 
portment  of  their  parents;  they  are  inured  to 
a  principle  of  subordination,  arising  neither 
from  sudden  passions  nor  inconsiderate  pleas 
ure;  they  are  gently  held  by  an  uniform  silk 
cord,  which  unites  softness  and  strength.  A  per 
fect  equanimity  prevails  in  most  of  their  fam 
ilies,  and  bad  example  hardly  ever  sows  in  their 
hearts  the  seeds  of  future  and  similar  faults. 
They  are  corrected  with  tenderness,  nursed  with 
the  most  affectionate  care,  clad  with  that  decent 
plainness,  from  which  they  observe  their  parents 
never  to  depart:  in  short,  by  the  force  of  ex 
ample, 


AT  NANJUCKET.  157 

ample,  which  is  superior  even  to  the  strongest 
instinct  of  nature,  more  than  by  precepts,  they 
learn  to  follow  the  steps  of  their  parents,  to  de 
spise  ostentatiousness  as  being  sinful.  They 
acquire  a  taste  for  neatness  for  which  their 
fathers  are  so  conspicuous;  they  learn  to  be 
prudent  and  saving;  the  very  tone  of  voice 
with  which  they  are  always  addressed,  estab 
lishes  in  them  that  softness  of  diction,  which 
ever  after  becomes  habitual.  Frugal,  sober, 
orderly  parents,  attached  to  their  business, 
constantly  following  some  useful  occupation, 
never  guilty  of  riot,  dissipation,  or  other  irre 
gularities,  cannot  fail  of  training  up  children  to 
the  same  uniformity  of  life  and  manners.  If 
they  are  left  with  fortunes,  they  are  taught  how 
to  save  them,  and  how  to  enjoy  them  with 
moderation  and  decency;  if  they  have  none, 
they  know  how  to  venture,  how  to  work  and 
toil  as  their  fathers  have  done  before  them.  If 
they  fail  of  success,  there  are  always  in  this 
island  (and  wherever  this  society  prevails) 
established  resources,  founded  on  the  most  be 
nevolent  principles.  At  their  meetings  they 
are  taught  the  few,  the  simple  tenets  of  their 
sect;  tenets  as  fit  to  render  men  sober,  indus 
trious,  just,  and  merciful,  as  those  delivered 
in  the  most  magnificent  churches  and  cathe 
drals:  they  are  instructed  in  the  most  essential 

duties 


158  EDUCATION,  &C. 

duties  of  Christianity,  so  as  not  to  offend  the 
Divinity  by  the  commission  of  evil  deeds;  to 
dread  his  wrath  and  the  punishments  he  has 
denounced;  they  are  taught  at  the  same  time 
to  have  a  proper  confidence  in  his  mercy  while 
they  deprecate  his  justice.  As  every  scet,  from 
their  different  modes  of  worship,  and  their 
different  interpretations  of  some  parts  of  the 
Scriptures,  necessarily  have  various  opinions 
and  prejudices,  which  contribute  something  in 
forming  their  characters  in  society;  so  those 
of  the  Friends  are  well  known:  obedience  to 
the  laws,  even  to  non-resistance,  justice,  good 
will  to  all,  benevolence  at  home,  sobriety, 
meekness,  neatness,  love  of  order,  fondness 
and  appetite  for  commerce.  They  are  as  re 
markable  here  for  those  virtues  as  at  Philadel 
phia,  which  is  their  American  cradle,  and  the 
/boast  of  that  society.  At  schools  they  learn  to 
/  read,  and  to  write  a  good  hand,  until  they  are 
twelve  years  old;  they  are  then  in  general  put 
apprentices  to  the  cooper's  trade,  which  is  the 
second  essential  branch  of  business  followed 
here ;  at  fourteen  they  are  sent  to  sea,  where  in 
their  leisure  hours  their  companions  teach 
them  the  art  of  navigation,  which  they  have 
an  opportunity  of  practising  on  the  spot.  They 
learn  the  great  and  useful  art  of  working  a  ship 
in  all  the  different  situations  which  the  sea  and 

wind 


AT  NANTUCKET.  159 

wind  so  often  require;  and  surely  there  cannot 
be  a  better  or  a  more  useful  school  of  that 
kind  in  the  world.  Then  they  go  gradually 
through  every  station  of  rowers,  steersmen,  and 
harpooners;  thus  they  learn  to  attack,  to  pur 
sue,  to  overtake,  to  cut,  to  dress  their  huge 
game :  and  after  having  performed  several  such 
voyages,  and  perfected  themselves  in  this  busi 
ness,  they  are  fit  either  for  the  counting  house 
or  the  chase. 

The  first  proprietors  of  this  island,  or  rather 
the  first  founders  of  this  town,  began  their 
career  of  industry  with  a  single  whale-boat,  with 
which  they  went  to  fish  for  cod ;  the  small  dis 
tance  from  their  shores  at  which  they  caught  it, 
enabled  them  soon  to  increase  their  business, 
and  those  early  successes,  first  led  them  to  con 
ceive  that  they  might  likewise  catch  the  whales, 
which  hitherto  sported  undisturbed  on  their 
banks.  After  many  trials  and  several  miscar 
riages,  they  succeeded;  thus  they  proceeded, 
step  by  step;  the  profits  of  one  successful  enter 
prise  helped  them  to  purchase  and  prepare  bet 
ter  materials  for  a  more  extensive  one:  as  these 
were  attended  with  little  costs,  their  profits  grew 
greater.  The  south  sides  of  the  island  from 
east  to  west,  were  divided  into  four  equal 
parts,  and  each  part  was  assigned  to  a  com 
pany  of  six,  which  though  thus  separated,  still 

carried 


160  EDUCATION,  &C. 

carried  on  their  business  in  common.  In  the 
middle  of  this  distance,  they  erected  a  mast, 
provided  with  a  sufficient  number  of  rounds, 
and  near  it  they  built  a  temporary  hut,  where 
five  of  the  associates  lived,  whilst  the  sixth 
from  his  high  station  carefully  looked  toward 
the  sea,  in  order  to  observe  the  spouting  of  the 
whales.  As  soon  as  any  were  discovered, 
the  sentinel  descended,  the  whale-boat  was 
launched,  and  the  company  went  forth  in  quest 
of  their  game.  It  may  appear  strange  to  you, 
that  so  slender  a  vessel  as  an  American  whale- 
boat,  containing  six  diminutive  beings,  should 
dare  to  pursue  and  to  attack,  in  its  native  ele 
ment,  the  largest  and  strongest  fish  that  nature 
has  created.  Yet  by  the  exertions  of  an  admi 
rable  dexterity,  improved  by  a  long  practice, 
in  which  these  people  are  become  superior  to 
any  other  whale-men;  by  knowing  the  temper 
of  the  whale  after  her  first  movement,  and  by 
many  other  useful  observations;  they  seldom 
failed  to  harpoon  it,  and  to  bring  the  huge 
leviathan  on  the  shores.  Thus  they  went  on 
until  the  profits  they  made,  enabled  them  to 
purchase  larger  vessels,  and  to  pursue  them  far 
ther,  when  the  whales  quitted  their  coasts; 
those  who  failed  in  their  enterprizes,  returned 
to  the  cod-fisheries,  which  had  been  their  first 
school,  and  their  first  resource ;  they  even  began 

to 


AT  NANTUCKET.  161 

to  visit  the  banks  of  Cape  Breton,  the  isle  of 
Sable,  and  all  tlie  other  fishing  places,  with 
which  this  coast  of  America  abounds.  By 
degrees  they  went  a  whaling  to  Newfoundland, 
to  the  Gulph  of  St.  Laurence,  to  the  Straits 
of  Belleisle,  the  coast  of  Labrador,  Davis's 
Straits,  even  to  Cape  Desolation,  in  70°  of 
latitude;  where  the  Danes  carry  on  some 
fisheries  in  spite  of  the  perpetual  severities  of 
the  inhospitable  climate.  In  process  of  time 
they  visited  the  western  islands,  the  latitude  of 
34°  famous  for  that  fish,  the  Brazils,  the  coast 
of  Guinea.  Would  you  believe  that  they  have 
already  gone  to  the  Falkland  Islands,  and  that 
I  have  heard  several  of  them  talk  of  going  to 
the  South  Sea !  Their  confidence  is  so  great, 
and  their  knowledge  of  this  branch  of  busi 
ness  so  superior  to  that  of  any  other  people, 
that  they  have  acquired  a  monopoly  of  this 
commodity.  Such  were  their  feeble  begi 
nings,  such  the  infancy  and  the  progress  of 
their  maritime  schemes ;  such  is  now  the  degree 
of  boldness  and  activity  to  which  they  are 
arrived  in  their  manhood.  After  their  ex 
amples  several  companies  have  been  formed 
in  many  of  our  capitals,  where  every  necessary 
article  of  provisions,  implements,  and  timber, 
are  to  be  found.  But  the  industry  exerted  by 
the  people  of  Nantucket,  hath  hitherto  enabled 

them 


1 62  EDUCATION,  &C. 

them  to  rival  all  their  competitors;  conse 
quently  this  is  the  greatest  mart  for  oil,  whale 
bone,  and  spermaceti,  on  the  continent.  It  does 
not  follow  however  that  they  are  always  suc 
cessful,  this  would  be  an  extraordinary  field 
indeed,  where  the  crops  should  never  fail ;  many 
voyages  do  not  repay  the  original  cost  of  fitting 
out :  they  bear  such  misfortunes  like  true  mer 
chants,  and  as  they  never  venture  their  all  like 
gamesters,  they  try  their  fortunes  again;  the 
latter  hope  to  win  by  chance  alone,  the  former 
by  industry,  well  judged  speculation,  and  some 

hazard.      I   was  there  when   Mr.  had 

missed  one  of  his  vessels;  she  had  been  given 
over  for  lost  by  everybody,  but  happily  arrived 
before  I  came  away,  after  an  absence  of  thir 
teen  months.  She  had  met  with  a  variety  of 
disappointments  on  the  station  she  was  ordered 
to,  and  rather  than  return  empty,  the  people 
steered  for  the  coast  of  Guinea,  where  they  for 
tunately  fell  in  with  several  whales,  and  brought 
home  upward  of  600  barrels  of  oil,  beside  bone. 
Those  returns  are  sometimes  disposed  of  in  the 
towns  on  the  continent,  where  they  are  ex 
changed  for  such  commodities  as  are  wanted; 
but  they  are  most  commonly  sent  to  England, 
where  they  always  sell  for  cash.  When  this  i 
intended,  a  vessel  larger  than  the  rest  is  fitted 
out  to  be  filled  with  oil  on  the  spot  where  it  is 

found 


AT  NANTUCKET.  163 

found  and  made,  and  thence  she  sails  immedi 
ately  for  London.  This  expedient  saves  time, 
freight,  and  expence ;  and  from  that  capital  they 
bring  back  whatever  they  want.  They  employ 
also  several  vessels  in  transporting  lumber  to 
the  West  Indian  Islands,  from  whence  they  pro 
cure  in  return  the  various  productions  of  the 
country,  which  they  afterwards  exchange 
wherever  they  can  hear  of  an  advantageous 
market.  Being  extremely  acute  they  well  know 
how  to  improve  all  the  advantages  which  the 
combination  of  so  many  branches  of  busi 
ness  constantly  affords;  the  spirit  of  commerce, 
which  is  the  simple  art  of  a  reciprocal  supply 
of  wants,  is  well  understood  here  by  everybody. 
They  possess,  like  the  generality  of  Americans, 
a  large  share  of  native  penetration,  activity,  and 
good  sense,  which  lead  them  to  a  variety  of 
other  secondary  schemes  too  tedious  to  men- 
£ion :  they  are  well  acquainted  with  the  cheapest 
method  of  procuring  lumber  from  Kennebeck 
river,  Penobscot,  &c.  pitch  and  tar,  from  North 
Carolina;  flour  and  biscuit,  from  Philadelphia; 
beef  and  pork,  from  Connecticut.  They  know 
how  to  exchange  their  cod  fish  and  West-Indian 
produce,  for  those  articles  which  they  are  con 
tinually  either  bringing  to  their  island,  or  send 
ing  off  to  other  places  where  they  are  wanted. 
By  means  of  all  these  commercial  negociations, 

they 


1 64  EDUCATION,  &C. 

they  have  greatly  cheapened  the  fitting  out  of 
their  whaling  fleets,  and  therefore  much  im 
proved  their  fisheries.  They  are  indebted  for 
all  these  advantages  not  only  to  their  national 
genius  but  to  the  poverty  of  their  soil;  and  as 
proof  of  what  I  have  so  often  advanced,  look 
at  the  Vineyard  (their  neighboring  island) 
which  is  inhabited  by  a  set  of  people  as  keen  and 
as  sagacious  as  themselves.  Their  soil  being 
in  general  extremely  fertile,  they  have  fewer 
navigators;  though  they  are  equally  well  sit 
uated  for  the  fishing  business.  As  in  my  way 
back  to  Falmouth  on  the  main,  I  visited  this 
sister  island,  permit  me  to  give  you  as  concisely 
as  I  can,  a  short  but  true  description  of  it;  I 
am  not  so  limited  in  the  principal  object  of  this 
journey,  as  to  wish  to  confine  myself  to  the 
single  spot  of  Nantucket. 


LETTER 


MARTHA'S  VINEYARD.         165 


LETTER  VI. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  ISLAND  OF  MARTHA'S 
VINEYARD;  AND  OF  THE  WHALE  FISHERY. 

THIS  island  is  twenty  miles  in  length, 
and  from  seven  to  eight  miles  In 
breadth.  It  lies  nine  miles  from  the 
continent,  and  with  the  Elizabeth  Islands  forms 
one  of  the  counties  of  Massachusets  Bay,  known 
by  the  name  of  Duke's  County.  Those  latter, 
which  are  six  in  number,  are  about  nine  miles 
distant  from  the  Vineyard,  and  are  all  famous 
for  excellent  dairies.  A  good  ferry  is  estab 
lished  between  Edgar  Town,  and  Falmouth  on 
the  main,  the  distance  being  nine  miles.  Mar 
tha's  Vineyard  is  divided  into  three  townships, 
viz.  Edgar,  Chilmark,  and  Tisbury ;  the  number 
of  inhabitants  is  computed  at  about  4000,  300 
of  which  are  Indians.  Edgar  is  the  best  sea 
port,  and  the  shire  town,  and  as  its  soil  is  light 
and  sandy,  many  of  its  inhabitants  follow  the 
example  of  the  people  of  Nantucket.  The 
town  of  Chilmark  has  no  good  harbour,  but  the 
land  is  excellent  and  no  way  inferior  to  any  on 
the  continent:  it  contains  excellent  pastures, 

convenient 


1 66  DESCRIPTION  OF 

convenient  brooks  for  mills,  stone  for  fencing, 
&c.  The  town  of  Tisbury  is  remarkable  for 
the  excellence  of  its  timber,  and  has  a  har 
bour  where  the  water  is  deep  enough  for  ships 
of  the  line.  The  stock  of  the  island  is  20,000 
sheep,  2000  neat  cattle,  beside  horses  and 
goats;  they  have  also  some  deer,  and  abundance 
of  sea  fowls.  This  has  been  from  the  begin 
ning,  and  is  to  this  day,  the  principal  seminary 
of  the  Indians;  they  live  on  that  part  of  the 
island  which  is  called  Chapoquidick,  and  were 
very  early  christianised  by  the  respectable 
family  of  the  Mahews,  the  first  proprietors  of 
it.  The  first  settler  of  that  name  conveyed  by 
will  to  a  favourite  daughter  a  certain  part  of 
it,  on  which  there  grew  many  wild  vines ;  thence 
it  was  called  Martha's  Vineyard,  after  her 
name,  which  in  process  of  time  extended  to  the 
whole  island.  The  posterity  of  the  ancient 
/  Aborigines  remain  here  to  this  day,  on  lands 
which  their  forefathers  reserved  for  themselves, 
and  which  are  religiously  kept  from  any  in- 
croachments.  The  New  England  people  are 
remarkable  for  the  honesty  with  which  they 
have  fulfilled,  all  over  that  province,  those 
ancient  covenants  which  in  many  others  have 
been  disregarded,  to  the  scandal  of  those  gov 
ernments.  The  Indians  there  appeared,  by  the 
decency  of  their  manners,  their  industry,  and 

neatness 


MARTHA'S  VINEYARD.        167 

neatness,  to  be  wholly  Europeans,  and  nowise 
inferior  to  many  of  the  inhabitants.  Like 
them  they  are  sober,  laborious,  and  religious, 
which  are  the  principal  characteristics  of  the^ 
four  New  England  provinces.  They  often  go, 
like  the  young  men  of  the  Vineyard,  to  Nan- 
tucket,  and  hire  themselves  for  whalemen  or 
fishermen;  and  indeed  their  skill  and  dexterity 
in  all  sea  affairs  is  nothing  inferior  to  that  of 
the  whites.  The  latter  are  divided  into  two 
classes,  the  first  occupy  the  land,  which  they 
till  with  admirable  care  and  knowledge;  the 
second,  who  are  possessed  of  none,  apply  them 
selves  to  the  sea,  the  general  resource  of  man 
kind  in  this  part  of  the  world.  This  island 
therefore,  like  Nantucket,  is  become  a  great 
nursery  which  supplies  with  pilots  and  seamen 
the  numerous  coasters  with  which  this  extended 
part  of  America  abounds.  Go  where  you  will 
from  Nova  Scotia  to  theMissisippi,you  will  find 
almost  every  where  some  natives  of  these  two 
islands  employed  in  seafaring  occupations. 
Their  climate  is  so  favourable  to  population, 
that  marriage  is  the  object  of  every  man's 
earliest  wish;  and  it  is  a  blessing  so  easily 
obtained,  that  great  numbers  are  obliged  to 
quit  their  native  land  and  go  to  some  other 
countries  in  quest  of  subsistence.  The  inhabi 
tants  are  all  Presbyterians,  which  is  the  estab 
lished 


\ 


168  DESCRIPTION  OF 

lished  religion  of  Massachusets;  and  here  let 
me  remember  with  gratitude  the  hospitable 
treatment  I  received  from  B.  Norton,  Esq. 
the  colonel  of  the  island,  as  well  as  from  Dr. 
Mahew,  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  first  pro 
prietor.  Here  are  to  be  found  the  most  ex 
pert  pilots,  either  for  the  great  bay,  their  sound, 
Nantucket  shoals,  or  the  different  ports  in  their 
neighbourhood.  In  stormy  weather  they  are 
always  at  sea,  looking  out  for  vessels,  which 
they  board  with  singular  dexterity,  and  hardly 
ever  fail  to  bring  safe  to  their  intended  harbour. 
Gay-Head,  the  western  point  of  this  island, 
abounds  with  a  variety  of  ochres  of  different 
colours,  with  which  the  inhabitants  paint  their 
houses,  i/ 

The  vessels  most  proper  for  whale  fishing  are* 
brigs  of  about  150  tons  burthen,  particularly 
when  they  are  intended  for  distant  latitudes; 
they  always  man  them  with  thirteen  hands,  in 
order  that  they  may  row  two  whale  boats ;  the 
crews  of  which  must  necessarily  consist  of  six, 
four  at  the  oars,  one  -standing  on  the  bows  \ 
with  the  harpoon,  and  the  other  at  the  helm. 
It  is  also  necessary  that  there  should  be  two  of 
these  boats,  that  if  one  should  be  destroyed  in 
attacking  the  whale,  the  other,  which  is  never 
engaged  at  the  same  time,  may  be  ready  to 
save  the  hands.  Five  of  the  thirteen  are  al 
ways 


MARTHA'S  VINEYARD.         169 

ways  Indians;  the  last  of  the  complement  re 
mains  on  board  to  steer  the  vessel  during  the 
action.  They  have  no  wages;  each  draws  a 
certain  established  share  in  partnership  with  the 
proprietor  of  the  vessel;  by  which  oeconomy 
they  are  all  proportionately  concerned  in  the 
success  of  the  enterprise,  and  all  equally  alert 
and  vigilant.  None  of  these  whale-men  ever 
exceed  the  age  of  forty:  they  look  on  those 
who  are  past  that  period  not  to  be  possessed  of 
all  that  vigour  and  agility  which  so  adventurous 
a  business  requires.  Indeed  if  you  attentively 
consider  the  immense  disproportion  between  the 
object  assailed  and  the  assailants;  if  you  think 
on  the  diminutive  size,  and  weakness  of  their 
frail  vehicle;  if  you  recollect  the  treachery  of 
the  element  on  which  this  scene  is  transacted; 
the  sudden  and  unforeseen  accidents  of  winds, 
&c.  you  will  readily  acknowledge,  that  it  must 
require  the  most  consummate  exertion  of  all 
the  strength,  agility,  and  judgement,  of  which 
the  bodies  and  minds  of  men  are  capable, 
to  undertake  these  adventurous  encounters. 

As  soon  as  they  arrive  in  those  latitudes 
where  they  expect  to  meet  with  whales,  a  man  is 
sent  up  to  the  mast  head;  if  he  sees  one,  he 
immediately  cries  out  AWAITE  PAWANA,  here  is 
a  whale;  they  all  remain  still  and  silent  until 
he  repeats  PAWANA,  a  whale,  when  in  less 

than 


1 70  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

than  six  minutes  the  two  boats  are  launched, 
filled  with  every  implement  necessary  for  the 
attack.  They  row  toward  the  whale  •  with 
astonishing  velocity;  and  as  the  Indians  early 
became  their  fellow  labourers  in  this  new  war 
fare,  you  can  easily  conceive,  how  the  Nat- 
tick  expressions  became  familiar  on  board  the 
whale-boats.  Formerly  it  often  happened  that 
whale  vessels  were  manned  with  none  but  In 
dians  and  the  master;  recollect  also  that  the 
Nantucket  people  understand  the  Nattick,  and 
that  there  are  always  five  of  these  people  on 
board.  There  are  various  ways  of  approaching 
the  whale,  according  to  their  peculiar  species; 
and  this  previous  knowledge  is  of  the  utmost 
consequence.  When  these  boats  are  arrived  at 
a  reasonable  distance,  one  of  them  rests  on  its 
oars  and  stands  off,  as  a  witness  of  the  ap 
proaching  engagement;  near  the  bows  of  the 
other  the  harpooner  stands  up,  and  on  him 
principally  depends  the  success  of  the  enter 
prise.  He  wears  a  jacket  closely  buttoned,  and 
round  his  head  a  handkerchief  tightly  bound: 
in  his  hands  he  holds  the  dreadful  weapon, 
made  of  the  best  steel,  marked  sometimes  with 
the  name  of  their  town,  and  sometimes  with 
that  of  their  vessel;  to  the  shaft  of  which  the 
end  of  a  cord  of  due  length,  coiled  up  with 
the  utmost  care  in  the  middle  of  the  boat,  is 

firmly 


WHALE  FISHERY.  171 

firmly  tied;  the  other  end  is  fastened  to  the 
bottom  of  the  boat.  Thus  prepared  they  row 
in  profound  silence,  leaving  the  whole  con 
duct  of  the  enterprise  to  the  harpooner  and  to 
the  steersman,  attentively  following  their  di 
rections.  When  the  former  judges  himself 
to  be  near  enough  to  the  whale,  that  is,  at  the 
distance  of  about  fifteen  feet,  he  bids  them 
stop;  perhaps  she  has  a  calf,  whose  safety  at 
tracts  all  the  attention  of  the  dam,  which  is  a 
favourable  circumstance;  perhaps  she  is  of  a 
dangerous  species,  and  it  is  safest  to  retire, 
though  their  ardour  will  seldom  permit  them; 
perhaps  she  is  asleep,  in  that  case  he  balances 
high  the  harpoon,  trying  in  this  important 
moment  to  collect  all  the  energy  of  which 
he  is  capable.  He  launches  it  forth — she  is 
struck:  from  her  first  movements  they  judge  of 
her  temper,  as  well  as  of  their  future  suc 
cess.  Sometimes  in  the  immediate  impulse  of 
rage,  she  will  attack  the  boat  and  demolish  it 
with  one  stroke  of  her  tail;  in  an  instant  the 
frail  vehicle  disappears  and  the  assailants  are 
immersed  in  the  dreadful  element.  Were  the 
whale  armed  with  the  jaws  of  a  shark,  and 
as  voracious,,  they  never  would  return  home  to 
amuse  their  listening  wives  with  the  interesting 
tale  of  the  adventure.  At  other  times  she 
will  dive  and  disappear  from  human  sight;  and 

every 


172  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

every  thing  must  give  way  to  her  velocity, 
or  else  all  is  lost.  Sometimes  she  will  swim  away 
as  if  untouched,  and  draw  the  cord  with  such 
swiftness  that  it  will  set  the  edge  of  the  boat 
on  fire  by  the  friction.  If  she  rises  before  she 
has  run  out  the  whole  length,  she  is  looked 
upon  as  a  sure  prey.  The  blood  she  has  lost 
in  her  flight,  weakens  her  so  much,  that  if  she 
sinks  again,  it  is  but  for  a  short  time;  the  boat 
follows  her  course  with  an  almost  equal  speed. 
She  soon  re-appears;  tired  at  last  with  con 
vulsing  the  element;  which  she  tinges  with  her 
blood,  she  dies,  and  floats  on  the  surface.  At 
other  times  it  may  happen,  that  she  is  not 
dangerously  wounded,  though  she  carries  the 
harpoon  fast  in  her  body ;  when  she  will  alter 
nately  dive  and  rise,  and  swim  on  with  unabated 
vigour.  She  then  soon  reaches  beyond  the 
length  of  the  cord,  and  carries  the  boat  along 
with  amazing  velocity :  this  sudden  impediment 
sometimes  will  retard  her  speed,  at  other  times 
it  only  serves  to  rouse  her  anger,  and  to  ac 
celerate  her  progress.  The  harpooner,  with  the 
axe  in  his  hands,  stands  ready.  When  he  ob 
serves  that  the  bows  of  the  boat  are  greatly 
pulled  down  by  the  diving  whale,  and  that  it 
begins  to  sink  deep  and  to  take  much  water, 
he  brings  the  axe  almost  in  contact  with  the 
cord;  he  pauses,  still  flattering  himself  that  she 

will 


WHALE  FISHERY.  173 

will  relax;  but  the  moment  grows  critical,  un 
avoidable  danger  approaches:  sometimes  men 
more  intent  on  gain,  than  on  the  preservation 
of  their  lives,  will  run  great  risks;  and  it  is 
wonderful  how  far  these  people  have  carried 
their  daring  courage  at  this  awful  moment ! 
But  it  is  vain  to  hope,  their  lives  must  be 
saved,  the  cord  is  cut,  the  boat  rises  again.  If 
after  thus  getting  loose,  she  re-appears,  they 
will  attack  and  wound  her  a  second  time.  She 
soon  dies,  and  when  dead  she  is  towed  along 
side  of  their  vessel,  where  she  is  fastened. 

The  next  operation  is  to  cut  with  axes  and 
spades,  every  part  of  her  body  which  yields 
oil;  the  kettles  are  set  a  boiling,  they  fill 
their  barrels  as  fast  as  it  is  made;  but  as  this 
operation  is  much  slower  than  that  of  cutting 
up,  they  fill  the  hold  of  their  ship  with  those 
fragments,  least  a  storm  should  arise  and  oblige 
them  to  abandon  their  prize.  It  is  astonish 
ing  what  a  quantity  of  oil  some  of  these  fish 
will  yield,  and  what  profit  it  affords  to  those 
who  are  fortunate  enough  to  overtake  them. 
The  river  St.  Laurence  whale,  which  is  the  only 
one  I  am  well  acquainted  with,  is  seventy-five 
feet  long,  sixteen  deep,  twelve  in  the  length  of 
its  bone,  which  commonly  weighs  3000  Ib. 
twenty  in  the  breadth  of  their  tails  and  produces 
1 80  barrels  of  oil:  I  once  saw  16  boiled  out  of 

the 


174  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

the  tongue  only.  After  having  once  van 
quished  this  leviathan,  there  are  two  enemies 
to  be  dreaded  beside  the  wind;  the  first  of 
which  is  the  shark :  that  fierce  voracious  fish,  to 
which  nature  has  given  such  dreadful  offensive 
weapons,  often  comes  alongside,  and  in  spite 
of  the  people's  endeavours,  will  share  with 
them  their  prey;  at  night  particularly.  They 
are  very  mischevious,  but  the  second  enemy  is 
much  more  terrible  and  irresistible;  it  is  the 
killer,  sometimes  called  the  thrasher,  a  species 
of  whales  about  thirty  feet  long.  They  are 
possessed  of  such  a  degree  of  agility  and  fierce 
ness,  as  often  to  attack  the  largest  spermaceti 
whales,  and  not  seldom  to  rob  the  fishermen  of 
their  prey;  nor  is  there  any  means  of  defence 
against  so  potent  an  adversary.  When  all  their 
barrels  are  full,  for  every  thing  is  done  at  sea, 
or  when  their  limited  time  is  expired  and  their 
stores  almost  expended,  they  return  home, 
freighted  with  their  valuable  cargo ;  unless  they 
have  put  it  on  board  a  vessel  for  the  European 
market.  Such  are,  as  briefly  as  I  can  relate 
them,  the  different  branches  of  the  oeconomy 
practised  by  these  bold  navigators,  and  the 
method  with  which  they  go  such  distances  from 
their  island  to  catch  this  huge  game. 

The  following  are  the  names  and  principal 

characteristics 


WHALE  FISHERY.  175 

characteristics  of  the  various  species  of  whales 
known  to  these  people : 

The  St.  Laurence  whale,  just  described. 

The  disko,  or  Greenland  ditto. 

The  right  whale,  or  seven  feet  bone,  com 
mon  on  the  coasts  of  this  country,  about  sixty 
feet  long. 

The  spermaceti  whale,  found  all  over  the 
world,  and  of  all  sizes;  the  longest  are  sixty 
feet,  and  yield  about  100  barrels  of  oil. 

The  hump-backs,  on  the  coast  of  New 
foundland,  from  forty  to  seventy  feet  in  length. 

The  finn-back,  an  American  whale,  never 
killed,  as  being  too  swift. 

The  sulpher-bottom,  river  St.  Laurence, 
ninety  feet  long;  they  are  but  seldom  killed,  as 
being  extremely  swift. 

The  grampus,  thirty  feet  long,  never  killed 
on  the  same  account. 

The  killer  or  thrasher,  about  thirty  feet,  they 
often  kill  the  other  whales  with  which  they  are 
at  perpetual  war. 

The  black  fish  whale,  twenty  feet,  yields 
from  8  to  10  barrels. 

The  porpoise,  weighing  about  160  Ib. 

In  1769  they  fitted  out  125  whalemen;  the 
first  50  that  returned  brought  with  them  1 1,000 
barrels  of  oil.  In  1770  they  fitted  out  135 
vessels  for  the  fisheries,  at  thirteen  hands  each; 

4  West- 


176     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

4  West-Indiamen,  twelve  hands;  25  wood 
vessels,  four  hands;  18  coasters,  five  hands; 
15  London  traders,  eleven  hands.  All  these 
amount  to  2158  hands,  employed  in  197  ves 
sels.  Trace  their  progressive  steps  between 
the  possession  of  a  few  whale  boats,  and  that 
of  such  a  fleet ! 

The  moral  conduct,  prejudices,  and  customs 
of  a  people  who  live  two-thirds  of  their  time 
at  sea,  must  naturally  be  very  different  from 
those  of  their  neighbours,  who  live  by  culti 
vating  the  earth.  That  long  abstemiousness  to 
which  the  former  are  exposed,  the  breathing 
of  saline  air,  the  frequent  repetitions  of  danger, 
the  boldness  acquired  in  surmounting  them,  the 
very  impulse  of  the  winds,  to  which  they  are 
exposed;  all  these,  one  would  imagine  must 
lead  them,  when  on  shore,  to  no  small  desire  of 
inebriation,  and  a  more  eager  pursuit  of  those 
pleasures,  of  which  they  have  been  so  Jong 
deprived,  and  which  they  must  soon  forego. 
There  are  many  appetites  that  may  be  gratified 
on  shore,  even  by  the  poorest  man,  but  which 
must  remain  unsatisfied  at  sea.  Yet  notwith 
standing  the  powerful  effects  of  all  these  causes, 
I  observed  here,  at  the  return  of  their  fleets, 
no  material  irregularities;  no  tumultuous 
drinking  assemblies :  whereas  in  our  conti 
nental  towns,  the  thoughtless  seaman  indulges 

himself 


AT  NANTUCKET.  177 

himself  in  the  coarsest  pleasures;  and  vainly 
thinking  that  a  week  of  debauchery  can  com 
pensate  for  months  of  abstinence,  foolishly 
lavishes  in  a  few  days  of  intoxication,  the  fruits 
of  half  a  year's  labour.  On  the  contrary  all 
was  peace  here,  and  a  general  decency  pre- 
vailed  throughout;  the  reason  I  believe  is, 
that  almost  everybody  here  is  married,  for  they 
get  wives  very  young;  and  the  pleasure  of 
returning  to  their  families  absorbs  every  other 
desire.  The  motives  that  lead  them  to  the 
sea,  are  very  different  from  those  of  most  other 
sea-faring  men;  it  is  neither  idleness  nor 
profligacy  that  sends  them  to  that  element;  it 
is  a  settled  plan  of  life,  a  well  founded  hope 
of  earning  a  livelihood;  it  is  because  their 
soil  is  bad,  that  they  are  early  initiated  to  this 
profession,  and  were  they  to  stay  at  home,  what 
could  they  do?  The  sea  therefore  becomes  to 
them  a  kind  of  patrimony;  they  go  to  whal 
ing  with  as  much  pleasure  and  tranquil  indif 
ference,  with  as  strong  an  expectation  of  suc 
cess,  as  a  landsman  undertakes  to  clear  a  piece 
of  swamp.  The  first  is  obliged  to  advance  his 
time,  and  labour,  to  procure  oil  on  the  sur 
face  of  the  sea;  the  second  advances  the  same 
to  procure  himself  grass  from  grounds  that 
produced  nothing  before  but  hassocks  and  bogs. 
Among  those  who  do  not  use  the  sea,  I  ob 
served 


178     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

served  the  same  calm  appearance  as  among 
the  inhabitants  on  the  continent;  here  I  found, 
without  gloom,  a  decorum  and  reserve,  so  nat 
ural  to  them,  that  I  thought  myself  in  Phila 
delphia.  At  my  landing  I  was  cordially  re 
ceived  by  those  to  whom  I  was  recommended, 
and  treated  with  unaffected  hospitality  by  such 
others  with  whom  I  became  acquainted;  and 
I  can  tell  you,  that  it  is  impossible  for  any 
traveller  to  dwell  here  one  month  without 
knowing  the  heads  of  the  principal  families. 
Wherever  I  went  I  found  a  simplicity  of  diction 
and  manners,  rather  more  primitive  and  rigid 
than  I  expected;  and  I  soon  perceived  that  it 
proceeded  from  their  secluded  situation,  which 
has  prevented  them  from  mixing  with  others. 
It  is  therefore  easy  to  conceive  how  they  have 
retained  every  degree  of  peculiarity  for  which 
this  sect  was  formerly  distinguished.  Never 
was  a  bee-hive  more  faithfully  employed  in 
gathering  wax,  bee-bread,  and  honey,  from  all 
the  neighbouring  fields,  than  are  the  members 
of  this  society;  every  one  in  the  town  follows 
some  particular  occupation  with  great  diligence, 
but  without  that  servility  of  labour  which  I  am 
informed  prevails  in  Europe.  The  mechanic 
seemed  to  be  descended  from  as  good  parent 
age,  was  as  well  dressed  and  fed,  and  held  in  as 
much  estimation  as  those  who  employed  him; 

they 


AT  NANTUCKET.  179 

they  were  once  nearly  related;  their  different 
degrees  of  prosperity  is  what  has  caused  the 
various  shades  of  their  community.  But  this 
accidental  difference  has  introduced,  as  yet, 
neither  arrogance  nor  pride  on  the  one  part,  nor 
meanness  and  servility  on  the  other.  All  their 
houses  are  neat,  convenient,  and  comfortable; 
some  of  them  are  filled  with  two  families,  for 
when  the  husbands  are  at  sea,  the  wives  require 
less  house-room.  They  all  abound  with  the 
most  substantial  furniture,  more  valuable  from 
its  usefulness  than  from  any  ornamental  ap 
pearance.  Wherever  I  went,  I  found  good 
cheer,  a  welcome  reception;  and  after  the  sec 
ond  visit  I  felt  myself  as  much  at  my  ease  as  if  I 
had  been  an  old  acquaintance  of  the  family. 
They  had  as  great  plenty  of  every  thing  as  if 
their  island  had  been  part  of  the  golden  quarter 
of  Virginia  (a  valuable  track  of  land  on  Cape 
Charles)  :  I  could  hardly  persuade  myself  that 
I  had  quitted  the  adjacent  continent,  where 
every  thing  abounds,  and  that  I  was  on  a  barren 
sand-bank,  fertilized  with  whale  oil  only.  As 
their  rural  improvements  are  but  trifling,  and 
only  of  the  useful  kind,  and  as  the  best  of  them 
are  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  town,  I 
amused  myself  for  several  days  in  conversing 
with  the  most  intelligent  of  the  inhabitants  of 
both  sexes,  and  making  myself  acquainted  with 

the 


i8o     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

the  various  branches  of  their  industry;  the 
different  objects  of  their  trade;  the  nature  of 
that  sagacity  which,  deprived  as  they  are  of 
every  necessary  material,  produce,  &c.  yet  en 
ables  them  to  flourish,  to  live  well,  and  some 
times  to  make  considerable  fortunes.  The 
whole  is  an  enigma  to  be  solved  only  by  coming 
to  the  spot  and  observing  the  national  genius 
which  the  original  founders  brought  with  them, 
as  well  as  their  unwearied  patience  and  perse 
verance.  They  have  all,  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  a  singular  keenness  of  judgment,  un 
assisted  by  any  academical  light;  they  all  pos 
sess  a  large  share  of  good  sense,  improved  upon 
the  experience  of  their  fathers;  and  this  is  the 
surest  and  best  guide  to  lead  us  through  the 
path  of  life,  because  it  approaches  nearest  to 
the  infallibility  of  instinct.  Shining  talents  and 
University  knowledge,  would  be  entirely  use 
less  here,  nay,  would  be  dangerous;  it  would 
pervert  their  plain  judgment,  it  would  lead 
them  out  of  that  useful  path  which  is  so  well 
adapted  to  their  situation ;  it  would  make  them 
more  adventurous,  more  presumptuous,  much 
less  cautious,  and  therefore  less  successful.  It 
is  pleasing  to  hear  some  of  them  tracing  a 
father's  progress  and  their  own,  through  the 
different  vicissitudes  of  good  and  adverse  for 
tune.  I  have  often,  by  their  fire-sides,  trav 
elled 


AT  NANTUCKET.  181 

elled  with  them  the  whole  length  of  their 
career,  from  their  earliest  steps,  from  their  first 
commercial  adventure,  from  the  possession  of 
a  single  whale-boat,  up  to  that  of  a  dozen  large 
vessels!  This  does  not  imply,  however,  that 
every  one  who  began  with  a  whale-boat,  has 
ascended  to  a  like  pitch  of  fortune;  by  no 
means,  the  same  casualty,  the  same  combina 
tion  of  good  and  evil  which  attends  human 
affairs  in  every  other  part  of  the  globe,  prevails 
here:  a  great  prosperity  is  not  the  lot  of  every 
man,  but  there  are  many  and  various  grada 
tions;  if  they  all  do  not  attain  riches,  they  all 
attain  an  easy  subsistence.  After  all,  is  it  not 
better  to  be  possessed  of  a  single  whale-boat,  or 
a  few  sheep  pastures;  to  live  free  and  indepen 
dent  under  the  mildest  governments,  in  a 
healthy  climate,  in  a  land  of  chanty  and  benevo 
lence;  than  to  be  wretched  as  so  many  are  in 
Europe,  possessing  nothing  but  their  industryj^ 
tossed  from  one  rough  wave  to  another;  en 
gaged  either  in  the  most  servile  labours  for  the  •* 
smallest  pittance,  or  fettered  with  the  links  of 
the  most  irksome  dependence,  even  without  the 
hopes  of  rising? 

The  majority  of  those  inferior  hands  which 
are  employed  in  this  fishery,  many  of  the  me 
chanics,  such  as  coopers,  smiths,  caulkers,  car 
penters,  &c.  who  do  not  belong  to  the  society 

of 


1 82     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

of  Friends,  are  Presbyterians,  and  originally 
came  from  the  main.  Those  who  are  possessed 
of  the  greatest  fortunes  at  present  belong  to  the 
former;  but  they  all  began  as  simple  whalemen : 
it  is  even  looked  upon  as  honourable  and  neces 
sary  for  the  son  of  the  wealthiest  man  to  serve 
an  apprenticeship  to  the  same  bold,  adventurous 
business  which  has  enriched  his  father;  they  go 
several  voyages,  and  these  early  excursions 
never  fail  to  harden  their  constitutions,  and  in 
troduce  them  to  the  knowledge  of  their  future 
means  of  subsistence. 


LETTER 


AT  NANTUCKET.  183 

LETTER    VII. 

MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS  AT  NANTUCKET. 

AS  I  observed  before,  everyman  takes  a 
wife  as  soon  as  he  auSSsf  and  that  is 
generally  very  early;  no  portion  is  re 
quired,  none  is  expected;  no  marriage  articles 
are  drawn  up  among  us,  by  skillful  lawyers,  to 
puzzle  and  lead  posterity  to  the  bar,  or  to 
satisfy  the  pride  of  the  parties.  We  give  noth-  /ws 
ing  with  our  daughters,  their  education,  their 
health,  and  the  customary  out-set,  are  all  that 
the  fathers  of  numerous  families  can  afford :  as 
the  wife's  fortune  consists  principally  in  her 
future  ceconomy,  modesty,  and  skillful  man 
agement;  so  the  husband's  is  founded  on  his 
abilities  to  labour,  on  his  health,  and  the  knowl 
edge  of  some  trade  or  business.  Their  mutual 
endeavours,  after  a  few  years  of  constant  ap 
plication,  seldom  fail  of  success,  and  of  bring 
ing  them  the  means  to  rear  and  support  the  new 
race  which  accompanies  the  nuptial  bed.  Those 
children  born  by  the  sea-side,  hear  the  roaring 
of  its  waves  as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  listen; 
it  is  the  first  noise  with  which  they  become  ac 
quainted 


1 84     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

quainted,  and  by  early  plunging  in  it  they  ac 
quire  that  boldness,  that  presence  of  mind,  and 
dexterity,  which  makes  them  ever  after  such  ex- 
-pert  seamen.  They  often  hear  their  fathers  re 
count  the  adventures  of  their  youth,  their  com 
bats  with  the  whales;  and  these  recitals  imprint 
on  their  opening  minds  an  early  curiosity  and 
taste  for  the  same  life.  They  often  cross  the 
sea  to  go  to  the  main,  and  learn  even  in  those 
short  voyages  how  to  qualify  themselves  for 
longer  and  more  dangerous  ones;  they  are 
therefore  deservedly  conspicuous  for  their  mari 
time  knowledge  and  experience,  all  over  the 
continent.  A  man  born  here  is  distinguishable 
by  his  gait  from  among  an  hundred  other  men, 
so  remarkable  are  they  for  a  pliability  of 
sinews,  and  a  peculiar  agility,  which  attends 
them  even  to  old  age.  I  have  heard  some  per 
sons  attribute  this  to  the  effects  of  the  whale 
oil,  with  which  they  are  so  copiously  anointed  in 
the  various  operations  it  must  undergo  ere  it  is 
fit  either  for  the  European  market  or  the  candle 
manufactory. 

But  you  may  perhaps  be  solicitous  to  ask, 
what  becomes  of  that  exuberancy  of  population 
which  must  arise  from  so  much  temperance, 
from  healthiness  of  climate,  and  from  early 
marriage?  You  may  justly  conclude  that  their 
native  island  and  town  can  contain  but  a  limited 

number 


AT  NANTUCKET.  185 

number.  Emigration  is  both  natural  and  easy 
to  a  maritime  people,  and  that  is  the  very  reason 
why  they  are  always  populous,  problematical  as 
it  may  appear.  They  yearly  go  to  different 
parts  of  this  continent,  constantly  engaged  in 
sea  affairs;  as  our  internal  riches  encrease,  so 
does  our  external  trade,  which  consequently  re 
quires  more  ships  and  more  men:  sometimes 
they  have  emigrated  like  bees,  in  regular  and 
connected  swarms.  Some  of  the  Friends  (by 
which  word  I  always  mean  the  people  called 
Quakers)  fond  of  a  contemplative  life,  yearly 
visit  the  several  congregations  which  this  so 
ciety  has  formed  throughout  the  continent.  By 
their  means  a  sort  of  correspondence  is  kept  up 
among  them  all;  they  are  generally  good 
preachers,  friendly  censors,  checking  vice  wher 
ever  they  find  it  predominating;  preventing  re 
laxations  in  any  parts  of  their  ancient  customs 
and  worship.  They  every  where  carry  admoni 
tion  and  useful  advice;  and  by  thus  travelling 
they  unavoidably  gather  the  most  necessary  ob 
servations  concerning  the  various  situations  of 
particular  districts,  their  soils,  their  produce, 
their  distance  from  navigable  rivers,  the  price 
of  land,  &c.  In  consequence  of  informations 
of  this  kind,  received  at  Nantucket  in  the  year 
1766,  a  considerable  number  of  them  purchased 
a  large  track  of  land  in  the  county  of  Orange, 

in 


1 86     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

in  North  Carolina,  situated  on  the  several 
spring  heads  of  Deep  River,  which  is  the  west 
ern  branch  of  Cape  Fear,  or  North  West  River. 
The  advantage  of  being  able  to  convey  them 
selves  by  sea,  to  within  forty  miles  of  the  spot, 
the  richness  of  the  soil,  &c.  made  them  cheer 
fully  quit  an  island  on  which  there  was  no 
longer  any  room  for  them.  There  they  have 
founded  a  beautiful  settlement,  known  by  the 
name  of  New  Garden,  contiguous  to  the  famous 
one  which  the  Moravians  have  at  Bethabara, 
Bethamia,  and  Salem,  on  Yadkin  River.  No 
spot  of  earth  can  be  more  beautiful;  it  is  com 
posed  of  gentle  hills,  of  easy  declivities,  excel 
lent  low  lands,  accompanied  by  different  brooks 
which  traverse  this  settlement.  I  never  saw  a 
soil  that  rewards  men  so  early  for  their  labours 
and  disbursements;  such  in  general  with  very 
few  exceptions,  are  the  lands  which  adjoin  the 
innumerable  heads  of  all  the  large  rivers  which 
fall  into  the  Chesapeak,  or  flow  through  the 
provinces  of  North  and  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  &c.  It  is  perhaps  the  most  pleasing, 
the  most  bewitching  country  which  the  con 
tinent  affords;  because  while  it  preserves  an 
easy  communication  with  the  sea-port  towns,  at 
some  seasons  of  the  year,  it  is  perfectly  free 
from  the  contagious  air  often  breathed  in  those 
flat  countries,  which  are  more  contiguous  to  the 

Atlantic. 


AT  NANTUCKET.  187 

Atlantic.  These  lands  are  as  rich  as  those  over 
the  Alligany;  the  people  of  New  Garden  are 
situated  at  the  distance  of  between  200  and  300 
miles  from  Cape  Fear;  Cape  Fear  is  at  least 
450  from  Nantucket:  you  may  judge  therefore 
that  they  have  but  little  correspondence  with 
this  their  little  metropolis,  except  it  is  by  means 
of  the  itinerant  Friends.  Others  have  settled 
on  the  famous  river  Kennebeck,  in  that  terri 
tory  of  the  province  of  Massachusets,  which  is 
known  by  the  name  of  Sagadahock.  Here  they 
have  softened  the  labours  of  clearing  the 
heaviest  timbered  land  in  America,  by  means  of 
several  branches  of  trade  which  their  fair  river, 
and  proximity  to  the  sea  affords  them.  Instead** 
of  entirely  consuming  their  timber,  as  we  are 
obliged  to  do;  some  parts  of  it  are  converted 
into  useful  articles  for  exportation,  such  as 
staves,  scantlings,  boards,  hoops,  poles,  &c.  For 
that  purpose  they  keep  a  correspondence  with 
their  native  island,  and  I  know  many  of  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  Sherburn,  who,  though 
merchants,  and  living  at  Nantucket,  yet  pos 
sess  valuable  farms  on  that  river;  from  whence 
they  draw  great  part  of  their  subsistence,  meat, 
grain,  fire-wood,  &c.  The  title  of  these  lands  is 
vested  in  the  ancient  Plymouth  Company,  un 
der  the  powers  of  which  the  Massachusets  was 
settled ;  and  that  company  which  resides  in  Bos 
ton 


1 88     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

ton,  are  still  the  granters  of  all  the  vacant  lands 
within  their  limits. 

Although  this  part  of  the  province  is  so 
fruitful,  and  so  happily  situated,  yet  it  has  been 
singularly  overlooked  and  neglected:  it  is  sur 
prising  that  the  excellence  of  that  soil  which  lies 
on  the  river  should  not  have  caused  it  to  be 
filled  before  now  with  inhabitants;  for  the  set 
tlements  from  thence  to  Penobscot  are  as  yet 
but  in  their  infancy.  It  is  true  that  immense 
labour  is  required  to  make  room  for  the  plough, 
but  the  peculiar  strength  and  quality  of  the  soil 
never  fails  most  amply  to  reward  the  industri 
ous  possessor;  I  know  of  no  soil  in  this  coun 
try  more  rich  or  more  fertile.  I  do  not  mean 
that  sort  of  transitory  fertility  which  evapo 
rates  with  the  sun,  and  disappears  in  a  few 
years;  here  on  the  contrary,  even  their  highest 
grounds  are  covered  with  a  rich  moist  swamp 
mould,  which  bears  the  most  luxuriant  grass, 
and  never  failing  cr^ps  of  grain. 

If  New-Gardens  exceeds  this  settlement  by 
the  softness  of  its  climate,  the  fecundity  of  its 
soil,  and  a  greater  variety  of  produce  from  less 
labour;  it  does  not  breed  men  equally  hardy, 
nor  capable  to  encounter  dangers  and  fatigues. 
It  leads  too  much  to  idleness  and  effeminacy; 
for  great  is  the  luxuriance  of  that  part  of  Amer 
ica,  and  the  ease  with  which  the  earth  is  culti 
vated. 


AT  NANTUCKET.  189 

vated.  Were  I  to  begin  life  again,  I  would 
prefer  the  country  of  Kennebeck  to  the  other, 
however  bewitching;  the  navigation  of  the 
river  for  above  200  miles,  the  great  abundance 
of  fish  it  contains,  the  constant  healthiness  of 
the  climate,  the  happy  severities  of  the  winters 
always  sheltering  the  earth,  with  a  voluminous 
coat  of  snow,  the  equally  happy  necessity  of 
labour :  all  these  reasons  would  greatly  prepon 
derate  against  the  softer  situations  of  Carolina ;  %. 
where  mankind  reap  too  much,  do  not  toil  / 
enough,  and  are  liable  to  enjoy  too  fast  the/ 
benefits  of  life.  There  are  many  I  know  who 
would  despise  my  opinion,  and  think  me  a  bad 
judge ;  let  those  go  and  settle  at  the  Ohio,  the 
Monongahela,  Red  Stone  Creek,  &c.  let  them 
go  and  inhabit  the  extended  shores  of  that  su 
perlative  river;  I  with  equal  cheerfulness  would 
pitch  my  tent  on  the  rougher  shores  of  Kenne 
beck;  this  will  always  be  a  country  of  health, 
labour,  and  strong  activity,  and  those  are  char 
acteristics  of  society  which  I  value  more  than 
greater  opulence  and  voluptuous  ease. 

Thus  though  this  fruitful  hive  constantly 
sends  out  swarms,  as  industrious  as  themselves, 
yet  it  always  remains  full  without  having  any 
useless  drones:  on  the  contrary  it  exhibits  con 
stant  scenes  of  business  and  new  schemes;  the 
richer  an  individual  grows,  the  more  extensive 

his 


1 90     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

his  field  of  action  becomes;  he  that  is  near  end 
ing  his  career,  drudges  on  as  well  as  he  who  has 
just  begun  it ;  no  body  stands  still.  But  is  it  not 
strange,  that  after  having  accumulated  riches, 
they  should  never  wish  to  exchange  their  barren 
situation  for  a  more  sheltered,  more  pleasant 
one  on  the  main?  Is  it  not  strange,  that  after 
having  spent  the  morning  and  the  meridian  of 
their  days  amidst  the  jarring  waves,  weary  with 
the  toils  of  a  laborious  life;  they  should  not 
wish  to  enjoy  the  evenings  of  those  days  of  in 
dustry,  in  a  larger  society,  on  some  spots  of 
terra  firma,  where  the  severity  of  the  winters  is 
balanced  by  a  variety  of  more  pleasing  scenes, 
not  to  be  found  here?  But  the  same  magical 
power  of  habit  and  custom  which  makes  the 
Laplander,  the  Siberian,  the  Hottentot,  prefer 
their  climates,  their  occupations,  and  their  soil, 
to  more  beneficial  situations;  leads  these  good 
people  to  think,  that  no  other  spot  on  the  globe 
is  so  analagous  to  their  inclinations  as  Nan- 
tucket.  Here  their  connections  are  formed; 
what  would  they  do  at  a  distance  removed  from 
them  ?  Live  sumptuously,  you  will  say,  procure 
themselves  new  friends,  new  acquaintances,  by 
their  splendid  tables,  by  their  ostentatious  gen 
erosity  and  by  affected  hospitality.  These  are 
thoughts  that  have  never  entered  into  their 
heads;  they  would  be  filled  with  horror  at  the 

thought 


AT  NANTUCKET.  191 

thought  of  forming  wishes  and  plans  so  differ 
ent  from  that  simplicity,  which  is  their  general 
standard  in  affluence  as  well  as  in  poverty.  They 
abhor  the  very  idea  of  expending  in  useless 
waste  and  vain  luxuries,  the  fruits  of  prosper 
ous  labour;  they  are  employed  in  establishing 
their  sons  and  in  many  other  useful  purposes: 
strangers  to  the  honours  of  monarchy  they  do 
not  aspire  to  the  possession  of  affluent  fortunes, 
with  which  to  purchase  sounding  titles,  and 
frivolous  names! 

Yet  there  are  not  at  Nantucket  so  many 
wealthy  people  as  one  would  imagine  after  hav 
ing  considered  their  great  successes,  their  in 
dustry,  and  their  knowledge.  Many  die  poor, 
though  hardly  able  to  reproach  Fortune  with  a 
frown ;  others  leave  not  behind  them  that  afflu-  ^ 

ence  which  the  circle  of  their  business,  and  of       t^     0 
their  prosperity  naturally  promised.    The  rea-    ^         +i*" 
son  of  this  is,  I  believe,  the  peculiar  expence       *j&      .  t 
necessarily  attending  their  tables;  for  as  their         i^t          d 
island  supplies  the  town  with  little  or  nothing  4  4 

(a  few  families  excepted)  every  one  must  pro-  4** 
cure  what  they  want  from  the  main.  The  very 
hay  their  horses  consume,  and  every  other  ar 
ticle  necessary  to  support  a  family,  though 
cheap  in  a  country  of  so  great  abundance  as 
Massachusets;  yet  the  necessary  waste  and  ex- 
pences  attending  their  transport,  render  these 

commodities 


192     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

commodities  dear.  A  vast  number  of  little  ves 
sels  from  the  main,  and  from  the  Vineyard,  are 
constantly  resorting  here,  as  to  a  market.  Sher- 
burn  is  extremely  well  supplied  with  every 
thing,  but  this  very  constancy  of  supply,  neces 
sarily  drains  off  a  great  deal  of  money.  The 
first  use  they  make  of  their  oil  and  bone  is  to 
exchange  it  for  bread  and  meat,  and  whatever 
else  they  want;  the  necessities  of  a  large  family 
are  very  great  and  numerous,  let  its  |economy 
be  what  it  will;  they  are  so  often  repeated,  that 
they  perpetually  draw  off  a  considerable  branch 
of  the  profits.  If  by  any  accidents  those  profits 
are  interrupted,  the  capital  must  suffer;  and  it 
very  often  happens  that  the  greatest  part  of 
their  property  is  floating  on  the  sea. 

There  are  but  two  congregations  in  this 
town.  They  assemble  every  Sunday  in  meeting 
houses,  as  simple  as  the  dwelling  of  the  people; 
and  there  is  but  one  priest  on  the  whole  island. 
What  would  a  good  Portuguese  observe  ? — But 
one  single  priest  to  instruct  a  whole  island,  and 
to  direct  their  consciences!  It  is  even  so;  each 
individual  knows  how  to  guide  his  own,  and  is 
content  to  do  it,  as  well  as  he  can.  This  lonely 
clergyman  is  a  Presbyterian  minister,  who  has  a 
very  large  and  respectable  congregation;  the 
other  is  composed  of  Quakers,  who  you  know 
admit  of  no  particular  person,  who  in  conse 
quence 


AT  NANTUCKET.  193 

quence  of  being  ordained  becomes  exclusively 
entitled  to  preach,  to  catechise,  and  to  receive 
certain  salaries  for  his  trouble.  Among  them, 
every  one  may  expound  the  scriptures,  who 
thinks  he  is  called  so  to  do ;  beside,  as  they  ad 
mit  of  neither  sacrament,  baptism,  nor  any 
other  outward  forms  whatever,  such  a  man 
would  be  useless.  Most  of  these  people  are 
continually  at  sea,  and  have  often  the  most 
urgent  reasons  to  worship  the  Parent  of  Nature 
in4the  midst  of  the  storms  which  they  encounter. 
These  two  sects  live  in  perfect  peace  and  har- 
mony  with  each  other;  those  ancient  times  of 
religious  discords  are  now  gone  (I  hope  never 
to  return)  when  each  thought  it  meritorious,  not 
only  to  damn  the  other,  which  would  have  been  §* 
nothing,  but  to  persecute  and  murther  one  an 
other,  for  the  glory  of  that  Being,  who  requires 
no  more  of  us,  than  that  we  should  love  one  an 
other  and  Five!  Every  one  goes  to  that  place 
of  worship  which  he  likes  best,  and  thinks  not 
that  his  neighbour  does  wrong  by  not  following 
him;  each  busily  employed  in  their  temporal 
affairs,  is  less  vehement  about  spiritual  ones, 
and  fortunately  you  will  find  at  Nantucket 
neither  idle  drones,  voluptuous  devotees,  rant 
ing  enthusiasts,  nor  sour  demagogues.  I  wish 
I  had  it  in  my  power  to  send  the  most  persecut 
ing  bigot  I  could  find  in to  the  whale  fish 
eries: 


i94     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

cries ;  in  less  than  three  or  four  years  you  would 
find  him  a  much  more  tractable  man,  and  there 
fore  a  better  Christian. 

Singular  as  it  may  appear  to  you,  there  are 
but  two  medical  professors  on  the  island;  for 
of  what  service  can  physic  be  in  a  primitive  so- 
ciety,  where  the  excesses  of  inebriation  are  so 
rare?  What  need  of  galenical  medicines,  where 
fevers,  and  stomachs  loaded  by  the  loss  of  the 
digestive  powers,  are  so  few?  Temperance, 
the  calm  of  passions,  frugality,  and  continual 
exercise,  keep  them  healthy,  and  preserve  unim 
paired  that  constitution  which  they  have  re 
ceived  from  parents  as  healthy  as  themselves; 
who  in  the  unpolluted  embraces  of  the  earliest 
and  chastest  love,  conveyed  to  them  the  sound 
est  bodily  frame  which  nature  could  give.  But 
as  no  habitable  part  of  this  globe  is  exempt 
from  some  diseases,  proceeding  either  from  cli 
mate  or  modes  of  living;  here  they  are  some 
times  subject  to  consumptions  and  to  fevers. 
Since  the  foundation  of  that  town  no  epidemi 
cal  distempers  have  appeared,  which  at  times 
cause  such  depopulations  in  other  countries; 
many  of  them  are  extremely  well  acquainted 
with  the  Indian  methods  of  curing  simple  dis 
eases,  and  practice  them  with  success.  You  will 
hardly  find  any  where  a  community,  composed 
of  the  same  number  of  individuals,  possessing 

such 


AT  NANTUCKET.  195 

such  uninterrupted  health,  and  exhibiting  so 
many  green  old  men,  who  shew  their  advanced 
age  by  the  maturity  of  their  wisdom,  rather 
than  by  the  wrinkles  of  their  faces;  and  this  is 
indeed  one  of  the  principal  blessings  of  the 
island,  which  richly  compensates  their  want  of 
the  richer  soils  of  the  south;  where  iliac  com 
plaints  and  bilious  fevers,  grow  by  the  side  of 
the  sugar  cane,  the  ambrosial  ananas,  &c.  The 
situation  of  this  island,  the  purity  of  the  air,  the 
nature  of  their  marine  occupations,  their  virtue 
and  moderation,  are  the  causes  of  that  vigour 
and  health  which  they  possess.  The  poverty  of 
their  soil  has  placed  them,  I  hope,  beyond  the 
danger  of  conquest,  or  the  wanton  desire  of 
extirpation.  Were  they  to  be  driven  from  this 
spot;  the  'only  acquisition  of  the  conquerors 
would  be  a  few  acres  of  land,  inclosed  and  culti 
vated;  a  few  houses,  and  some  moveables.  The 
genius,  the  industry  of  the  inhabitants  would 
accompany  them;  and  it  is  those  alone  which 
constitute  the  sole  wealth  of  their  island.  Its 
present  fame  would  perish,  and  in  a  few  years 
it  would  return  to  its  pristine  state  of  barren 
ness  and  poverty:  they  might  perhaps  be  al 
lowed  to  transport  themselves  in  their  own  ves 
sels  to  some  other  spot  or  island,  which  they 
would  soon  fertilize  by  the  same  means  with 
which  they  have  fertilized  this. 

One 


196     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

One  single  lawyer  has  of  late  years  found 
means  to  live  here,  but  his  best  fortune  pro 
ceeds  more  from  having  married  one  of  the 
wealthiest  heiresses  of  the  island,  than  from  the 
emoluments  of  his  practice :  however  he  is  some 
times  employed  in  recovering  money  lent  on  the 
main,  or  in  preventing  those  accidents  to  which 
the  contentious  propensity  of  its  inhabitants 
may  sometimes  expose  them.  He  is  seldom 
employed  as  the  means  of  self-defence,  and 
much  seldomer  as  the  channel  of  attack;  to 
which  they  are  strangers,  except  the  fraud  is 
manifest,  and  the  danger  imminent.  Lawyers 
are  so  numerous  in  all  our  populous  towns,  that 
I  am  surprised  they  never  thought  before  of  es 
tablishing  themselves  here :  they  are  plants  that 
will  grow  in  any  soil  that  is  cultivated  by  the 
hands  of  others;  and  when  once  they  have 
taken  root  they  will  extinguish  every  other 
vegetable  that  grows  around  them.  The  for 
tunes  they  daily  acquire  in  every  province,  from 
the  misfortunes  of  their  fellow-citizens,  are 
surprising !  The  most  ignorant,  the  most  bung 
ling  member  of  that  profession,  will,  if  placed 
in  the  most  obscure  part  of  the  country,  pro 
mote  litigiousness,  and  amass  more  wealth 
without  labour,  than  the  most  opulent  farmer, 
with  all  his  toils.  They  have  so  dexterously 
interwoven  their  doctrines  and  quirks,  with  the 

laws 


AT  NANTUCKET.  197 

laws  of  the  land,  or  rather  they  are  become  so 
necessary  an  evil  in  our  present  constitutions, 
that  it  seems  unavoidable  and  past  all  remedy. 
What  a  pity  that  our  forefathers,  who  happily 
extinguished  so  many  fatal  customs,  and  ex 
punged  from  their  new  government  so  many 
errors  and  abuses,  both  religious  and  civil,  did 
not  also  prevent  the  introduction  of  a  set  of 
men  so  dangerous!  In  some  provinces,  where 
every  inhabitant  is  constantly  employed  in 
tilling  and  cultivating  the  earth,  they  are  the 
only  members  of  society  who  have  any  knowl 
edge  ;  let  these  provinces  attest  what  iniquitous 
use  they  have  made  of  that  knowledge.  TJney 
are  here  what  the  clergy  were  in  past  centuries 
with  you;  the  reformation  which  clipped  the 
clerical  wings,  is  the  boast  of  that  age,  and  the 
happiest  event  that  could  possibly  happen;  a 
reformation  equally  useful  is  now  wanted,  to 
relieve  us  from  the  shameful  shackles  and  the 
oppressive  burthen  under  which  we  groan ;  this 
perhaps  is  impossible;  but  if  mankind  would 
not  become  too  happy,  it  were  an  event  most 
devoutly  to  be  wished. 

Here,  happily,  unoppressed  with  any  civil 
bondage,  this  society  of  fishermen  and  mer 
chants  live,  without  any  military  establish 
ments,  without  governors  or  any  masters  but 
the  laws ;  and  their  civil  code  is  so  light,  that  it 

is 


198     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

is  never  felt.  A  man  may  pass  (as  many  have 
done  whom  I  am  acquainted  with)  through 
the  various  scenes  of  a  long  life,  may  struggle 
against  a  variety  of  adverse  fortune,  peaceably 
enjoy  the  good  when  it  comes,  and  never  in 
that  long  interval,  apply  to  the  law  either  for 
redress  or  assistance.  The  principal  benefits  it 
confers  is  the  general  protection  of  individuals, 
and  this  protection  is  purchased  by  the  most 
moderate  taxes,  which  are  chearfully  paid,  and 
by  the  trifling  duties  incident  in  the  course  of 
their  lawful  trade  (for  they  despise  contra 
band)  .  Nothing  can  be  more  simple  than  their 
municipal  regulations,  though  similar  to  those 
of  the  other  counties  of  the  same  province; 
because  they  are  more  detached  from  the  rest, 
more  distinct  in  their  manners,  as  well  as  in  the 
nature  of  the  business  they  pursue,  and  more 
unconnected  with  the  populous  province  to 
which  they  belong.  The  same  simplicity  at 
tends  the  worship  they  pay  to  the  Divinity; 
their  elders  are  the  only  teachers  of  their  con 
gregations,  the  instructors  of  their  youth,  and 
often  the  example  of  their  flock.  They  visit 
and  comfort  the  sick;  after  death,  the  society 
bury  them  with  their  fathers,  without  pomp, 
prayers,  or  ceremonies;  not  a  stone  or  monu 
ment  is  erected,  to  tell  where  any  person  was 
buried;  their  memory  is  preserved  by  tradition. 

The 


AT  NANTUCKET.  199 

The  only  essential  memorial  that  is  left  of 
them,  is  their  former  industry,  their  kindness, 
their  charity,  or  else  their  most  conspicuous 
faults. 

The  Presbyterians  live  in  great  charity  with 
them,  and  with  one  another;  their  minister  as 
a  true  pastor  of  the  gospel,  inculcates  to  them 
the  doctrines  it  contains,  the  rewards  it  prom 
ises,  the  punishments  it  holds  out  to  those  who 
shall  commit  injustice.  Nothing  can  be  more 
disencumbered  likewise  from  useless  ceremonies 
and  trifling  forms  than  their  mode  of  worship ; 
it  might  with  great  propriety  have  been  called 
a  truly  primitive  one,  had  that  of  the  Quakers 
never  appeared.  As  fellow  Christians,  obey 
ing  the  same  legislator,  they  love  and  mutually 
assist  each  other  in  all  their  wants;  as  fellow^ 
labourers  they  unite  with  cordiality,  and  with 
out  the  least  rancour  in  all  their  temporal 
schemes:  no  other  emulation  appears  among 
them  but  in  their  sea  excursions,  in  the  art  of 
fitting  out  their  vessels;  in  that  of  sailing,  in 
harpooning  the  whale,  and  in  bringing  home 
the  greatest  harvest.  As  fellow  subjects  they 
cheerfully  obey  the  same  laws,  and  pay  the 
same  duties :  but  let  me  not  forget  another  pe 
culiar  characteristic  of  this  community:  there  is  i  ^ 
not  a  slave  I  believe  on  the  whole  island,  at  V 
least  among  the  Friends;  whilst  slavery  pre-  ^ 

vails 


200     MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 

vails  all  around  them,  this  society  alone,  lament 
ing  that  shocking  insult  offered  to  humanity, 
have  given  the  world  a  singular  example  of 
moderation,  distinterestedness,  and  Christian 
charity,  in  emancipating  their  negroes.  I  shall 
explain  to  you  farther,  the  singular  virtue  and 
merit  to  which  it  is  so  justly  entitled  by  having 
set  before  the  rest  of  their  fellow-subjects,  so 
pleasing,  so  edifying  a  reformation.  Happy 
the  people  who  are  subject  to  so  mild  a  govern 
ment;  happy  the  government  which  has  to  rule 
over  such  harmless,  and  such  industrious  sub 
jects! 

While  we  are  clearing  forests,  making  the 
face  of  nature  smile,  draining  marshes,  culti 
vating  wheat,  and  converting  it  into  flour;  they 
yearly  skim  from  the  surface  of  the  sea  riches 
equally  necessary.  Thus,  had  I  leisure  and 
abilities  to  lead  you  through  this  continent,  I 
could  shew  you  an  astonishing  prospect  very 
little  known  in  Europe;  one  diffusive  scene  of 
happiness  reaching  from  the  sea-shores  to  the 
last  settlements  on  the  borders  of  the  wilder 
ness:  an  happiness,  interrupted  only  by  the 
folly  of  individuals,  by  our  spirit  of  litigious- 
ness,  and  by  those  unforeseen  calamities,  from 
which  no  human  society  can  possibly  be  ex 
empted.  May  the  citizens  of  Nantucket  dwell 
long  here  in  uninterrupted  peace,  undisturbed 

either 


AT  NANTUCKET.  201 

either  by  the  waves  of  the  surrounding  element, 
or  the  political  commotions  which  sometimes 
agitate  our  continent. 


LETTER 


202          PECULIAR  CUSTOMS 
LETTER     VIII. 

PECULIAR    CUSTOMS   AT    NANTUCKET. 

THE  manners  of  the  Friends  are  en 
tirely  founded  on  that  simplicity 
which  is  their  boast,  and  their  most 
distinguished  characteristic;  and  those  manners 
have  acquired  the  authority  of  laws.  Here 
they  are  strongly  attached  to  plainness  of  dress, 
as  well  as  to  that  of  language;  insomuch  that 
though  some  part  of  it  may  be  ungrammatical, 
yet  should  any  person  who  was  born  and 
brought  up  here,  attempt  to  speak  more  cor 
rectly,  he  would  be  looked  upon  as  a  fop  or  an 
innovator.  On  the  other  hand,  should  a 
stranger  come  here  and  adopt  their  idiom  in 
all  its  purity  (as  they  deem  it)  this  accomplish 
ment  would  immediately  procure  him  the  most 
cordial  reception;  and  they  would  cherish  him 
like  an  ancient  member  of  their  society.  So 
many  impositions  have  they  suffered  on  this  ac 
count,  that  they  begin  now  indeed  to  grow  more 
cautious.  They  are  so  tenacious  of  their  an 
cient  habits  of  industry  and  frugality,  that  if 
any  of  them  were  to  be  seen  with  a  long  coat 

made 


AT  NANTUCKET.  203 

made  of  English  cloth,  on  any  other  than  the 
first-day  (Sunday)  he  would  be  greatly  ridi 
culed  and  censured;  he  would  be  looked  upon 
as  a  careless  spendthrift,  whom  it  would  be  un 
safe  to  trust,  and  in  vain  to  relieve.  A  few 
years  ago  two  single-horse  chairs  were  im- 
ported  from  Boston,  to  the  great  offence  of 
these  prudent  citizens;  nothing  appeared  to 
them  more  culpable  than  the  use  of  such  gaudy 
painted  vehicles,  in  contempt  of  the  more  use 
ful  and  more  simple  single-horse  carts  of  their 
fathers.  This  piece  of  extravagant  and  un 
known  luxury,  almost  caused  a  schism,  and  set 
every  tongue  a-going;  some  predicted  the  ap 
proaching  ruin  of  those  families  that  had  im 
ported  them;  others  feared  the  dangers  of  ex 
ample;  never  since  the  foundation  of  the  town 
had  there  happened  any  thing  which  so  much 
alarmed  this  primitive  community.  One  of  the 
possessors  of  these  profane  chairs,  filled  with 
repentance,  wisely  sent  it  back  to  the  continent; 
the  other,  more  obstinate  and  perverse,  in  de 
fiance  to  all  remonstrances,  persisted  in  the  use 
of  his  chair  until  by  degrees  they  became  more 
reconciled  to  it;  though  I  observed  that  the 
wealthiest  and  the  most  respectable  people  still 
go  to  meeting  or  to  their  farms  in  a  single- 
horse  cart  with  a  decent  awning  fixed  over  it: 
indeed,  if  you  consider  their  sandy  soil,  and  the 

badness 


204          PECULIAR  CUSTOMS 

badness  of  their  roads,  these  appear  to  be  the 
best  contrived  vehicles  for  this  island. 

Idleness  is  the  most  heinous  sin  that  can  be 
committed  in  Nantucket:  an  idle  man  would 
soon  be  pointed  out  as  an  object  of  compassion : 
for  idleness  is  considered  as  another  word  for 
want  and  hunger.  This  principle  is  so  thor 
oughly  well  understood,  and  is  become  so  uni 
versal,  so  prevailing  a  prejudice,  that  literally 
speaking,  they  are  never  idle.  Even  if  they  go 
to  the  market-place,  which  is  (if  I  may  be  al 
lowed  the  expression)  the  coffee-house  of  the 
town,  either  to  transact  business,  or  to  converse 
with  their  friends;  they  always  have  a  piece  of 
cedar  in  their  hands,  and  while  they  are  talking, 
they  will,  as  it  were  instinctively,  employ  them 
selves  in  converting  it  into  something  useful, 
either  in  making  bungs  or  spoyls  for  their  oil 
casks,  or  other  useful  articles.  I  must  confess, 
that  I  have  never  seen  more  ingenuity  in  the 
use  of  the  knife;  thus  the  most  idle  moments 
of  their  lives  become  usefully  employed.  In 
the  many  hours  of  leisure  which  their  long 
cruises  afford  them,  they  cut  and  carve  a  variety 
of  boxes  and  pretty  toys,  in  wood,  adapted  to 
different  uses;  which  they  bring  home  as  testi 
monies  of  remembrance  to  their  wives  or  sweet 
hearts.  They  have  shewed  me  a  variety  of  lit 
tle  bowls  and  other  implements,  executed 

cooper-wise, 


AT  NANTUCKET.  205 

cooper-wise,  with  the  greatest  neatness  and  ele 
gance.  You  will  be  pleased  to  remember  they 
are  all  brought  up  to  the  trade  of  coopers,  be 
their  future  intentions  or  fortunes  what  they 
may;  therefore  almost  every  man  in  this  island 
has  always  two  knives  in  his  pocket,  one  much 
larger  than  the  other;  and  though  they  hold 
every  thing  that  is  called  fashion  in  the  utmost 
contempt,  yet  they  are  as  difficult  to  please,  and 
as  extravagant  in  the  choice  and  price  of  their 
knives,  as  any  young  buck  in  Boston  would  be 
about  his  hat,  buckles,  or  coat.  As  soon  as  a 
knife  is  injured,  or  superceded  by  a  more  con 
venient  one,  it  is  carefully  laid  up  in  some  cor- 
ner  of  their  desk.  I  once  saw  upwards  of  fifty 

thus   preserved   at   Mr.   's,    one   of   the 

worthiest  men  on  this  island;  and  among  the 
whole,  there  was  not  one  that  perfectly  re 
sembled  another.  As  the  sea  excursions  are 
often  very  long,  their  wives  in  their  absence, 
are  necessarily  obliged  to  transact  business,  to 
settle  accounts,  and  in  short,  to  rule  and  pro 
vide  for  their  families.  These  circumstances 
being  often  repeated,  give  women  the  abilities 
as  well  as  a  taste  for  that  kind  of  superinten- 
dency,  to  which,  by  their  prudence  and  good 
management,  they  seem  to  be  in  general  very 
equal.  This  employment  ripens  their  judge 
ment,  and  justly  entitles  them  to  a  rank  su 
perior 


206          PECULIAR  CUSTOMS 

perior  to  that  of  other  wives;  and  this  is  the 
principal  reason  why  those  of  Nantucket  as 
well  as  those  of  Montreal*  are  so  fond  of  so 
ciety,  so  affable,  and  so  conversant  with  the 
affairs  of  the  world.  The  men  at  their  return, 
weary  with  the  fatigues  of  the  sea,  full  of  con 
fidence  and  love,  chearfully  give  their  consent 
to  every  transaction  that  has  happened  during 
their  absence,  and  all  is  joy  and  peace.  "Wife, 
thee  hast  done  well,"  is  the  general  approba 
tion  they  receive,  for  their  application  and  in 
dustry.  What  would  the  men  do  without  the 
agency  of  these  faithful  mates?  The  absence 
of  so  many  of  them  at  particular  seasons,  leaves 
the  town  quite  desolate;  and  this  mournful  situ 
ation  disposes  the  women  to  go  to  each  other's 
house  much  oftener  than  when  their  husbands 
are  at  home :  hence  the  custom  of  incessant 
visiting  has  infected  every  one,  and  even  those 
whose  husbands  do  not  go  abroad.  The  house 
is  always  cleaned  before  they  set  out,  and  with 
peculiar  alacrity  they  pursue  their  intended 
visit,  which  consists  of  a  social  chat,  a  dish  of 
tea,  and  an  hearty  supper.  When  the  good 
man  of  the  house  returns  from  his  labour,  he 

peaceably 

*  Most  of  the  merchants  and  young  men  of  Montreal, 
spend  the  greatest  part  of  their  time  in  trading  with  the 
Indians,  at  an  amazing  distance  from  Canada;  and  it 
often  happens  that  they  are  three  years  together  absent 
from  home. 


AT  NANTUCKET.  207 

peaceably  goes  after  his  wife  and  brings  her 
home;  mean  while  the  young  fellows,  equally 
vigilant,  easily  find  out  which  is  the  most  con 
venient  house,  and  there  they  assemble  with  the 
girls  of  the  neighbourhood.  Instead  of  cards, 
musical  instruments,  or  songs,  they  relate  ****<riff  J 
stories  of  their  whaling  voyages,  their  various 
sea  adventures,  and  talk  of  the  different  coasts 
and  people  they  have  visited.  "The  island  of 
"  Catharine  in  the  Brazil,  says  one,  is  a  very 
"  droll  island,  it  is  inhabited  by  none  but  men; 
"  women  are  not  permitted  to  come  in  sight  of 
"  it;  not  a  woman  is  there  on  the  whole  island. 
'  Who  among  us  is  not  glad  it  is  not  so  here? 
'*  The  Nantucket  girls  and  boys  beat  the 
"  world."  At  this  innocent  sally  the  titter  goes 
round,  they  whisper  to  one  another  their  spon 
taneous  reflections:  puddings,  pyes,  and  cust 
ards  never  fail  to  be  produced  on  such  occa 
sions;  for  I  believe  there  never  were  any  peo 
ple  in  their  circumstances,  who  live  so  well, 
even  to  superabundance.  As  inebriation  is  un 
known,  and  music,  singing,  and  dancing,  are 
held  in  equal  detestation,  they  never  could  fill 
all  the  vacant  hours  of  their  lives  without  the 
repast  of  the  table.  Thus  these  young  people 
sit  and  talk,  and  divert  themselves  as  well  as 
they  can;  if  any  one  has  lately  returned  from 
a  cruise,  he  is  generally  the  speaker  of  the 

night; 


208          PECULIAR  CUSTOMS 

night;  they  often  all  laugh  and  talk  together, 
but  they  are  happy,  and  would  not  exchange 
their  pleasures  for  those  of  the  most  brilliant 
assemblies  in  Europe.  This  lasts  until  the 
father  and  mother  return;  when  all  retire  to 
their  respective  homes,  the  men  reconducting 
the  partners  of  their  affections. 

Thus  they  spend  many  of  the  youthful  even 
ings  of  their  lives;  no  wonder  therefore,  that 
they  marry  so  early.  But  no  sooner  have  they 
undergone  this  ceremony  than  they  cease  to  ap 
pear  so  chearful  and  gay;  the  new  rank  they 
hold  in  the  society  impresses  them  with  more 
serious  ideas  than  were  entertained  before.  The 
title  of  master  of  a  family  necessarily  requires 
more  solid  behaviour  and  deportment;  the  new 
wife  follows  in  the  trammels  of  Custom,  which 
are  as  powerful  as  the  tyranny  of  fashion;  she 
gradually  advises  and  directs;  the  new  husband 
soon  goes  to  sea,  he  leaves  her  to  learn  and  ex 
ercise  the  new  government,  in  which  she  is  en 
tered.  Those  who  stay  at  home  are  full  as 
passive  in  general,  at  least  with  regard  to  the 
inferior  departments  of  the  family.  But  you 
must  not  imagine  from  this  account  that  the 
Nantucket  wives  are  turbulent,  of  high  temper, 
and  difficult  to  be  ruled;  on  the  contrary,  the 
wives  of  Sherburn  in  so  doing,  comply  only 
with  the  prevailing  custom  of  the  island :  the 

husbands, 


AT  NANTUCKET.  ^209 

husbands,  equally  submissive  to  the  ancient  and 
respectable  manners  of  their  country,  submit, 
without  ever  suspecting  that  there  can  be  any 
impropriety.  Were  they  to  behave  otherwise, 
they  would  be  afraid  of  subverting  the  prin 
ciples  of  their  society  by  altering  its  ancient 
rules:  thus  both  parties  are  perfectly  satisfied, 
and  all  is  peace  and  concord.  The  richest  per 
son  now  in  the  island  owes  all  his  present  pros 
perity  and  success  to  the  ingenuity  of  his  wife: 
this  is  a  known  fact  which  is  well  recorded;  for 
while  he  was  performing  his  first  cruises,  she 
traded  with  pins  and  needles,  and  kept  a  school. 
Afterward  she  purchased  more  considerable 
articles,  which  she  sold  with  so  much  judge 
ment,  that  she  laid  the  foundation  of  a  system 
of  business,  that  she  has  ever  since  prosecuted 
with  equal  dexterity  and  success.  She  wrote  to 
London,  formed  connections,  and,  in  short,  be 
came  the  only  ostensible  instrument  of  that 
house,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Who  is  he  in 
this  country,  and  who  is  a  citizen  of  Nantucket 
or  Boston,  who  does  not  know  Aunt  Kesiahf 
I  must  tell  you  that  she  is  the  wife  of  Mr. 

C n,   a  very  respectable  man,  who,  well 

pleased  with  all  her  schemes,  trusts  to  her 
judgement,  and  relies  on  her  sagacity,  with  so 
entire  a  confidence,  as  to  be  altogether  passive 
to  the  concerns  of  his  family.  They  have  the 

best 


210          PECULIAR  CUSTOMS 

best  country  seat  on  the  island,  at  Quayes, 
where  they  live  with  hospitality,  and  in  perfect 
union:  He  seems  to  be  altogether  the  con 
templative  man. 

To  this  dexterity  in  managing  the  husband's 
business  whilst  he  is  absent,  the  Nantucket 
wives  unite  a  great  deal  of  industry.  They 
spin,  or  cause  to  be  spun  in  their  houses,  abun 
dance  of  wool  and  flax;  and  would  be  for  ever 
disgraced  and  looked  upon  as  idlers  if  all  the 
family  were  not  clad  in  good,  neat,  and  suffi 
cient  homespun  cloth.  First  Days  are  the  only 
seasons  when  it  is  lawful  for  both  sexes  to  ex 
hibit  some  garments  of  English  manufacture; 
even  these  are  of  the  most  moderate  price,  and 
of  the  gravest  colours:  there  is  no  kind  of  dif 
ference  in  their  dress,  they  are  all  clad  alike, 
and  resemble  in  that  respect  the  members  of 
one  family. 

A  singular  custom  prevails  here  among  the 
women,  at  which  I  was  greatly  surprized;  and 
am  really  at  a  loss  how  to  account  for  the  orig 
inal  cause  that  has  introduced  in  this  primitive 
society  so  remarkable  a  fashion,  or  rather  so 
extraordinary  a  want.  They  have  adopted  these 
many  years,  the  Asiatic  custom  of  taking  a  dose 
of  opium  every  morning;  and  so  deeply  rooted 
is  it,  that  they  would  be  at  a  loss  how  to  live 
without  this  indulgence;  they  would  rather  be 

deprived 


AT  NANTUCKET.  211 

deprived  of  any  necessary  than  forego  their 
favourite  luxury.  This  is  much  more  prevail 
ing  among  the  women  than  the  men,  few  of  the 
latter  having  caught  the  contagion ;  though  the 
sheriff,  whom  I  may  call  the  first  person  in  the 
island,  who  is  an  eminent  physician  beside,  and 
whom  I  had  the  pleasure  of  being  well  ac 
quainted  with,  has  for  many  years  submitted 
to  this  custom.  He  takes  three  grains  of  it 
every  day  after  breakfast,  without  the  effects  of 
which,  he  often  told  me,  he  was  not  able  to 
transact  any  business. 

It  is  hard  to  conceive  how  a  people  always 
happy  and  healthy,  in  consequence  of  the  ex 
ercise  and  labour  they  undergo,  never  op 
pressed  with  the  vapours  of  idleness,  yet  should 
want  the  fictitious  effects  of  opium  to  preserve 
that  chearfulness  to  which  their  temperance, 
their  climate,  their  happy  situation  so  justly 
entitle  them.  But  where  is  the  society  perfectly 
free  from  error  or  folly;  the  least  imperfect  is 
undoubtedly  that  where  the  greatest  good  pre 
ponderates;  and  agreeable  to  this  rule,  I  can 
truly  say,  that  I  never  was  acquainted  with  a 
less  vicious,  or  more  harmless  one. 

The  majority  of  the  present  inhabitants  are 
the  descendants  of  the  twenty-seven  first  pro 
prietors,  who  patenteed  the  island;  of  the  rest, 
many  others  have  since  come  over  among  them, 

chiefly 


212          PECULIAR  CUSTOMS 

chiefly  from  the  Massachusets :  here  are  neither 
Scotch,  Irish,  nor  French,  as  is  the  case  in  most 
J  other  settlements;  they  are  an  unmixed  English 
|  breed.  The  consequence  of  this  extended  con- 
nexion  is,  that  they  are  all  in  some  degree  re 
lated  to  each  other :  you  must  not  be  surprized 
therefore  when  I  tell  you,  that  they  always  call 
each  other  cousin,  uncle  or  aunt;  which  are  be 
come  such  common  appellations,  that  no  other 
are  made  use  of  in  their  daily  intercourse:  you 
would  be  deemed  stiff  and  affected  were  you  to 
refuse  conforming  yourself  to  this  ancient  cus 
tom,  which  truly  depicts  the  image  of  a  large 
family.  The  many  who  reside  here  that  have 
not  the  least  claim  of  relationship  with  any  one 
in  the  town,  yet  by  the  power  of  custom  make 
use  of  no  other  address  in  their  conversation. 
Were  you  here  yourself  but  a  few  days,  you 
would  be  obliged  to  adopt  the  same  phrase 
ology,  which  is  far  from  being  disagreeable,  as 
it  implies  a  general  acquaintance  and  friend 
ship,  which  connects  them  all  in  unity  and 
peace. 

Their  taste  for  fishing  has  been  so  prevailing, 
that  it  has  engrossed  all  their  attention,  and 
even  prevented  them  from  introducing  some 
higher  degree  of  perfection  in  their  agriculture. 
There  are  many  useful  improvements  which 
might  have  meliorated  their  soil;  there  are 

many 


AT  NANTUCKET.  213 

many  trees  which  if  transplanted  here  would 
have  thriven  extremely  well,  and  would  have 
served  to  shelter  as  well  as  decorate  the  fa 
vourite  spots  they  have  so  carefully  manured. 
The  red  cedar,  the  locust*,  the  button  wood, 
I  am  persuaded  would  have  grown  here  rapidly 
and  to  a  great  size,  with  many  others;  but  their 
thoughts  are  turned  altogether  toward  the  sea. 
The  Indian  corn  begins  to  yield  them  consider 
able  crops,  and  the  wheat  sown  on  its  stocks  is 
become  a  very  profitable  grain;  rye  will  grow 
with  little  care;  they  might  raise  if  they  would, 
an  immense  quantity  of  buck-wheat. 

Such  an  island  inhabited  as  I  have  described, 
is  not  the  place  where  gay  travellers  should  re 
sort,  in  order  to  enjoy  that  variety  of  pleasures 
the  more  splendid  towns  of  this  continent  af 
ford.  Not  that  they  are  wholly  deprived  of 
what  we  might  call  recreations,  and  innocent 
pastimes;  but  opulence,  instead  of  luxuries  and 
extravagancies,  produces  nothing  more  here 
than  an  increase  of  business,  an  additional  de 
gree  of  hospitality,  greater  neatness  in  the  prep 
aration  of  dishes,  and  better  wines.  They  often 
walk  and  converse  with  each  other,  as  I  have 
observed  before;  and  upon  extraordinary  oc 
casions, 


*  A  species  of  what  we  call  here  the  two-thorn  acacia : 
it  yields  the  most  valuable  timber  we  have,  and  its  shade 
is  very  beneficial  to  the  growth  and  goodness  of  the  grass. 


2i4          PECULIAR  CUSTOMS 

casions,  will  take  a  ride  to  Palpus,  where  there 
is  an  house  of  entertainment;  but  these  rural 
amusements  are  conducted  upon  the  same  plan 
of  moderation,  as  those  in  town.  They  are  so 
simple  as  hardly  to  be  described;  the  pleasure 
of  going  and  returning  together;  of  chatting 
and  walking  about,  of  throwing  the  bar,  heav 
ing  stones,  &c.  are  the  only  entertainments  they 
are  acquainted  with.  This  is  all  they  practice, 
and  all  they  seem  to  desire.  The  house  at  Pal 
pus  is  the  general  resort  of  those  who  possess 
the  luxury  of  a  horse  and  chaise,  as  well  as  of 
those  who  still  retain,  as  the  majority  do,  a  pre 
dilection  for  their  primitive  vehicle.  By  resort 
ing  to  that  place  they  enjoy  a  change  of  air, 
they  taste  the  pleasures  of  exercise;  perhaps  an 
exhilirating  bowl,  not  at  all  improper  in  this 
climate,  affords  the  chief  indulgence  known  to 
these  people,  on  the  days  of  their  greatest  fes 
tivity.  The  mounting  a  horse,  must  afford  a 
most  pleasing  exercise  to  those  men  who  are 
so  much  at  sea.  I  was  once  invited  to  that 
house,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  conducting 
thither  one  of  the  many  beauties  of  that  island 
(for  it  abounds  with  handsome  women) 
dressed  in  all  the  bewitching  attire  of  the  most 
charming  simplicity:  like  the  rest  of  the  com 
pany,  she  was  chearful  without  loud  laughs, 
and  smiling  without  affectation.  They  all  ap 
peared 


AT  NANTUCKET.  215 

peared  gay  without  levity.  I  had  never  before 
in  my  life  seen  so  much  unaffected  mirth,  mixed 
with  so  much  modesty.  The  pleasures  of  the 
day  were  enjoyed  with  the  greatest  liveliness 
and  the  most  innocent  freedom;  no  disgusting 
pruderies,  no  coquetish  airs  tarnished  this  en 
livening  assembly:  they  behaved  according  to 
their  native  dispositions,  the  only  rules  of 
decorum  with  which  they  were  acquainted. 
What  would  an  European  visitor  have  done 
here  without  a  fiddle,  without  a  dance,  without 
cards  ?  He  would  have  called  it  an  insipid  as 
sembly,  and  ranked  this  among  the  dullest  days 
he  had  ever  spent.  This  rural  excursion  had  a 
very  great  affinity  to  those  practiced  in  our 
province,  with  this  difference  only,  that  we  have 
no  objection  to  the  sportive  dance,  though  con 
ducted  by  the  rough  accents  of  some  self-taught 
African  fidler.  We  returned  as  happy  as  we 
went;  and  the  brightness  of  the  moon  kindly 
lengthened  a  day  which  had  past,  like  other 
agreeable  ones,  with  singular  rapidity. 

In  order  to  view  the  island  in  its  longest  di 
rection  from  the  town,  I  took  a  ride  to  the  east 
ernmost  parts  of  it,  remarkable  only  for  the 
Pochick  Rip,  where  their  best  fish  are  caught. 
I  past  by  the  Tetoukemah  lots,  which  are  the 
fields  of  the  community;  the  fences  were  made 
of  cedar  posts  and  rails,  and  looked  perfectly 

straight 


216          PECULIAR  CUSTOMS 

straight  and  neat;  the  various  crops  they  en 
closed  were  flourishing :  thence  I  descended  into 
Barrey's  Valley,  where  the  blue  and  the  spear 
grass  looked  more  abundant  than  I  had  seen  on 
any  other  part  of  the  island;  thence  to  Gib's 
Pond;  and  arrived  at  last  at  Siasconcet.  Sev 
eral  dwellings  had  been  erected  on  this  wild 
shore,  for  the  purpose  of  sheltering  the  fisher 
men  in  the  season  of  fishing;  I  found  them  all 
empty,  except  that  particular  one,  to  which  I 
had  been  directed.  It  was  like  the  others,  built 
on  the  highest  part  of  the  shore,  in  the  face  of 
the  great  ocean;  the  soil  appeared  to  be  com 
posed  of  no  other  stratum  but  sand,  covered 
with  a  thinly  scattered  herbage.  What  ren 
dered  this  house  still  more  worthy  of  notice  in 
my  eyes,  was,  that  it  had  been  built  on  the  ruins 
of  one  of  the  ancient  huts,  erected  by  the  first 
settlers,  for  observing  the  appearance  of  the 
whales.  Here  lived  a  single  family  without  a 
neighbour;  I  had  never  before  seen  a  spot  bet 
ter  calculated  to  cherish  contemplative  ideas; 
perfectly  unconnected  with  the  great  world, 
and  far  removed  from  its  perturbations.  The 
ever  raging  ocean  was  all  that  presented  itself 
to  the  view  of  this  family;  it  irresistibly  at 
tracted  my  whole  attention :  my  eyes  were  in 
voluntarily  directed  to  the  horizontal  line  of 
that  watery  surface,  which  is  ever  in  motion, 

and 


AT  NANTUCKET.  217 

and  ever  threatening  destruction  to  these 
shores.  My  ears  were  stunned  with  the  roar 
of  its  waves  rolling  one  over  the  other,  as  if  im 
pelled  by  a  superior  force  to  overwhelm  the 
spot  on  which  I  stood.  My  nostrils  invol 
untarily  inhaled  the  saline  vapours  which  arose 
from  the  dispersed  particles  of  the  foaming  bil 
lows,  or  from  the  weeds  scattered  on  the  shores. 
My  mind  suggested  a  thousand  vague  reflec- 
tions,  pleasing  in  the  hour  of  their  spontaneous 
birth,  but  now  half  forgot,  and  all  indistinct : 
and  who  is  the  landman  that  can  behold  with 
out  affright  so  singular  an  element,  which  by 
its  impetuosity  seems  to  be  the  destroyer  of  this 
poor  planet,  yet  at  particular  times  accumulates 
the  scattered  fragments  and  produces  islands 
and  continents  fit  for  men  to  dwell  on !  Who 
can  observe  the  regular  vicissitudes  of  its  waters 
without  astonishment ;  now  swelling  themselves 
in  order  to  penetrate  through  every  river  and 
opening,  and  thereby  facilitate  navigation;  at 
other  times  retiring  from  the  shores,  to  permit 
man  to  collect  that  variety  of  shell  fish  which  is 
the  support  of  the  poor?  Who  can  see  the 
storms  of  wind,  blowing  sometimes  with  an 
impetuosity  sufficiently  strong  even  to  move  the 
earth,  without  feeling  himself  affected  beyond 
the  sphere  of  common  ideas?  Can  this  wind 
which  but  a  few  days  ago  refreshed  our  Amer 
ican 


2i8          PECULIAR  CUSTOMS 

ican  fields,  and  cooled  us  in  the  shade,  be  the 
same  element  which  now  and  then  so  power 
fully  convulses  the  waters  of  the  sea,  dismasts 
vessels,  causes  so  many  shipwrecks,  and  such  ex 
tensive  desolations?  How  diminutive  does  a 
man  appear  to  himself  when  filled  with  these 
thoughts,  and  standing  as  I  did  on  the  verge  of 
the  ocean !  This  family  lived  entirely  by  fish 
ing,  for  the  plough  has  not  dared  yet  to  disturb 
the  parched  surface  of  the  neighbouring  plain; 
and  to  what  purpose  could  this  operation  be 
performed !  Where  is  it  that  mankind  will  not 
find  safety,  peace,  and  abundance,  with  free 
dom  and  civil  happiness?  Nothing  was  want 
ing  here  to  make  this  a  most  philosophical  re 
treat,  but  a  few  ancient  trees,  to  shelter  contem 
plation  in  its  beloved  solitude.  There  I  saw  a 
numerous  family  of  children  of  various  ages — 
the  blessings  of  an  early  marriage;  they  were 
ruddy  as  the  cherry,  healthy  as  the  fish  they 
lived  on,  hardy  as  the  pine  knots:  the  eldest 
were  already  able  to  encounter  the  boisterous 
waves,  and  shuddered  not  at  their  approach; 
early  initiating  themselves  in  the  mysteries  of 
that  seafaring  career,  for  which  they  were  all 
intended :  the  younger,  timid  as  yet,  on  the  edge 
of  a  less  agitated  pool,  were  teaching  them 
selves  with  nut-shells  and  pieces  of  wood,  in 
imitation  of  boats,  how  to  navigate  in  a  future 

day 


AT  NANTUCKET.  219 

day  the  larger  vessels  of  their  father,  through 
a  rougher  and  deeper  ocean.  I  staid  two  days 
there  on  purpose  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  different  branches  of  their  oeconomy,  and 
their  manner  of  living  in  this  singular  retreat 
The  clams,  the  oysters  of  the  shores,  with  the 
addition  of  Indian  Dumplings*,  constituted 
their  daily  and  most  substantial  food.  Larger 
fish  were  often  caught  on  the  neighbouring  rip; 
these  afforded  them  their  greatest  dainties;  they 
had  likewise  plenty  of  smoked  bacon.  The 
noise  of  the  wheels  announced  the  industry  of 
the  mother  and  daughters;  one  of  them  had 
been  bred  a  weaver,  and  having  a  loom  in  the 
house,  found  means  of  cloathing  the  whole 
family;  they  were  perfectly  at  ease,  and  seemed 
to  want  for  nothing.  I  found  very  few  books 
among  these  people,  who  have  very  little  time 
for  reading;  the  Bible  and  a  few  school  tracts, 
both  in  the  Nattick  and  English  languages,  con 
stituted  their  most  numerous  libraries.  I  saw 
indeed  several  copies  of  Hudibras,  and  Jo-  , 

sephus;  but  no  one  knows  who  first  imported  \fft 
them.  It  is  something  extraordinary  to  see  this 
people,  professedly  so  grave,  and  strangers  to 
everv  branch  of  literature,  reading  with  pleas 
ure  the  former  work,  which  should  seem  to  re 
quire 

*  Indian  Dumplings,  are  a  peculiar  preparation  of  In 
dian  meal,  boiled  in  large  lumps. 


220          PECULIAR  CUSTOMS 

quire  some  degree  of  taste,  and  antecedent  his 
torical  knowledge.  They  all  read  it  much,  and 
can  by  memory  repeat  many  passages;  which 
yet  I  could  not  discover  that  they  understood 
the  beauties  of.  Is  it  not  a  little  singular  to  see 
these  books  in  the  hands  of  fishermen,  who  are 
perfect  strangers  almost  to  any  other?  Jo- 
sephus's  history  is  indeed  intelligible,  and  much 
fitter  for  their  modes  of  education  and  taste; 
as  it  describes  the  history  of  a  people  from 
whom  we  have  received  the  prophecies  which 
we  believe,  and  the  religious  laws  which  we 
follow. 

Learned  travellers,  returned  from  seeing  the 
paintings  and  antiquities  of  Rome  and  Italy, 
still  filled  with  the  admiration  and  reverence 
they  inspire;  would  hardly  be  persuaded  that  so 
contemptible  a  spot,  which  contains  nothing  re 
markable  but  the  genius  and  the  industry  of  its 
inhabitants,  could  ever  be  an  object  worthy  at 
tention.  But  I,  having  never  seen  the  beauties 
which  Europe  contains,  chearfully  satisfy  my 
self  with  attentively  examining  what  my  native 
country  exhibits:  if  we  have  neither  ancient 
amphitheatres,  gilded  palaces,  nor  elevated 
spires;  we  enjoy  in  our  woods  a  substantial 
happiness  which  the  wonders  of  art  cannot  com 
municate.  None  among  us  suffer  oppression 
either  from  government  or  religion;  there  are 

very 


AT  NANTUCKET.  221 

very  few  poor  except  the  idle,  and  fortunately 
the  force  of  example,  and  the  most  ample  en 
couragement,  soon  create  a  new  principle  of 
activity,  which  had  been  extinguished  perhaps 
in  their  native  country,  for  want  of  those  op 
portunities  which  so  often  compel  honest  Euro 
peans  to  seek  shelter  among  us.  The  means  of 
procuring  subsistence  in  Europe  are  limited ;  the 
army  may  be  full,  the  navy  may  abound  with 
seamen,  the  land  perhaps  wants  no  additional 
labourers,  the  manufacturer  is  overcharged 
with  supernumerary  hands ;  what  then  must  be 
come  of  the  unemployed?  Here,  on  the  con 
trary,  human  industry  has  acquired  a  boundless 
field  to  exert  itself  in — a  field  which  will  not  be 
fully  cultivated  in  many  ages ! 


LETTER 


222  DESCRIPTION  OF 


LETTER     IX. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  CHARLES-TOWN;  THOUGHTS 
ON  SLAVERY;  ON  PHYSICAL  EVIL;  A  MELAN 
CHOLY  SCENE. 

CHARLES-TOWN  is,  in  the  north, 
what  Lima  is  in  the  south;  both  are 
Capitals  of  the  richest  provinces  of 
their  respective  hemispheres :  you  may  there 
fore  conjecture,  that  both  cities  must  exhibit 
the  appearances  necessarily  resulting  from 
riches.  Peru  abounding  in  gold,  Lima  is  filled 
with  inhabitants  who  enjoy  all  those  gradations 
of  pleasure,  refinement,  and  luxury,  which  pro 
ceed  from  wealth.  Carolina  produces  com 
modities,  more  valuable  perhaps  than  gold,  be 
cause  they  are  gained  by  greater  industry;  it 
exhibits  also  on  our  northern  stage,  a  display  of 
riches  and  luxury,  inferior  indeed  to  the  for 
mer,  but  far  superior  to  what  are  to  be  seen  in 
our  northern  towns.  Its  situation  is  admirable, 
being  built  at  the  confluence  of  two  large  rivers, 
which  receive  in  their  course  a  great  number  of 
inferior  streams;  all  navigable  in  the  spring, 
for  flat  boats.  Here  the  produce  of  this  ex 
tensive 


CHARLES-TOWN.  223 

tensive  territory  concentres;  here  therefore  is 
the  seat  of  the  most  valuable  exportation;  their 
wharfs,  their  docks,  their  magazines,  are  ex 
tremely  convenient  to  facilitate  this  great  com 
mercial  business.  The  inhabitants  are  the  gay 
est  in  America;  it  is  called  the  centre  of  our 
teau  monde,  and  it  always  filled  with  the  richest 
planters  of  the  province,  who  resort  hither  in 
quest  of  health  and  pleasure.  Here  are  always 
to  be  seen  a  great  number  of  valetudinarians 
from  the  West-Indies,  seeking  for  the  renova 
tion  of  health,  exhausted  by  the  debilitating 
nature  of  their  sun,  air,  and  modes  of  living. 
Many  of  these  West-Indians  have  I  seen,  at 
thirty,  loaded  with  the  infirmities  of  old  age; 
for  nothing  is  more  common  in  those  countries 
of  wealth,  than  for  persons  to  lose  the  abilities 
of  enjoying  the  comforts  of  life,  at  a  time  when 
we  northern  men  just  begin  to  taste  the  fruits 
of  our  labour  and  prudence.  The  round  of 
pleasure,  and  the  expences  of  those  citizens' 
tables,  are  much  superior  to  what  you  would 
imagine :  indeed  the  growth  of  this  town  and 
province  has  been  astonishingly  rapid.  It  is 
pity  that  the  narrowness  of  the  neck  on  which 
it  stands  prevents  it  from  increasing;  and  which 
is  the  reason  why  houses  are  so  dear.  The  heat 
of  the  climate,  which  is  sometimes  very  great 
in  the  interior  parts  of  the  country,  is  always 

temperate 


224  DESCRIPTION  OF 

temperate  in  Charles-Town;  though  sometimes 
when  they  have  no  sea  breezes  the  sun  is  too 
powerful.  The  climate  renders  excesses  of  all 
kinds  very  dangerous,  particularly  those  of  the 
table;  and  yet,  insensible  or  fearless  of  danger, 
they  live  on,  and  enjoy  a  short  and  a  merry 
life:  the  rays  of  their  sun  seem  to  urge  them 
irresistably  to  dissipation  and  pleasure:  on  the 
contrary,  the  women,  from  being  abstemious, 
reach  to  a  longer  period  of  life,  and  seldom  die 
without  having  had  several  husbands.  An 
European  at  his  first  arrival  must  be  greatly 
surprised  when  he  sees  the  elegance  of  their 
houses,  their  sumptuous  furniture,  as  well  as 
the  magnificence  of  their  tables  can  he  imagine 
himself  in  a  country,  the  establishment  of  which 
is  so  recent  ? 

The  three  principal  classes  of  inhabitants 
'/are,  lawyers,  planters,  and  merchants;  this  is 
the  province  whicFT  has  afforded  to  the  first  the 
richest  spoils,  for  nothing  can  exceed  their 
wealth,  their  power,  and  their  influence.  They 
have  reached  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  worldly 
felicity;  no  plantation  is  secured,  no  title  is 
good,  no  will  is  valid,  but  what  they  dictate, 
regulate,  and  approve.  The  whole  mass  of 
provincial  property  is  become  tributary  to  this 
society;  which,  far  above  priests  and  bishops, 
disdain  to  be  satisfied  with  the  poor  Mosaical 

portion 


CHARLES-TOWN.  225 

portion  of  the  tenth.  I  appeal  to  the  many  in 
habitants,  who,  while  contending  perhaps  for 
their  right  to  a  few  hundred  acres,  have  lost  by 
the  mazes  of  the  law  their  whole  patrimony. 
These  men  are  more  properly  law  givers  than 
interpreters  of  the  law;  and  have  united  here, 
as  well  as  in  most  other  provinces,  the  skill  and 
dexterity  of  the  scribe  with  the  power  and  am 
bition  of  the  prince:  who  can  tell  where  this 
may  lead  in  a  future  day?  The  nature  of  our 
laws,  and  the  spirit  of  freedom,  which  often 
tends  to  make  us  litigious,  must  necessarily 
throw  the  greatest  part  of  the  property  of  the 
colonies  into  the  hands  of  these  gentlemen.  In 
another  century,  the  law  will  possess  in  the 
north,  what  now  the  church  possesses  In  Peru 
and  Mexico.J 

While  all  is  joy,  festivity,  and  happiness  in 
Charles-Town,  would  you  imagine  that  scenes 
of  misery  overspread  in  the  country?  Their 
ears  by  habit  are  become  deaf,  their  hearts 
are  hardened;  they  neither  see,  hear,  nor  feel 
for  the  woes  of  their  poor  slaves,  from  whose 
painful  labours  all  their  wealth  proceeds.  Here 
the  horrors  of  slavery,  the  hardship  of  inces 
sant  toils,  are  unseen;  and  no  one  thinks  with 
compassion  of  those  showers  of  sweat  and 
of  tears  which  from  the  bodies  of  Africans, 
daily  drop,  and  moisten  the  ground  they  till. 

The 


226  REFLECTIONS  ON 

The  cracks  of  the  whip  urging  these  miserable 
beings  to  excessive  labour,  are  far  too  distant 
from  the  gay  Capital  to  be  heard.  The  chosen 
race  eat,  drink,  and  live  happy,  while  the  un 
fortunate  one  grubs  up  the  ground,  raises  in 
digo,  or  husks  the  rice;  exposed  to  a  sun  full 
as  scorching  as  their  native  one;  without  the 
support  of  good  food,  without  the  cordials 
of  any  chearing  liquor.  This  great  contrast 
has  often  afforded  me  subjects  of  the  most  af 
flicting  meditation.  On  the  one  side,  behold 
a  people  enjoying  all  that  life  affords  most 
bewitching  and  pleasurable,  without  labour, 
without  fatigue,  hardly  subjected  to  the  trouble 
of  wishing.  With  gold,  dug  from  Peruvian 
mountains,  they  order  vessels  to  the  coasts  of 
Guinea ;  by  virtue  of  that  gold,  wars,  murders, 
and  devastations  are  committed  in  some  harm 
less,  peaceable  African  neighbourhood,  where 
dwelt  innocent  people,  who  even  knew  not  but 
that  all  men  were  black.  The  daughter  torn 
from  her  weeping  mother,  the  child  from  the 
wretched  parents,  the  wife  from  the  loving 
husband;  whole  families  swept  away  and 
brought  through  storms  and  tempests  to  this 
rich  metropolis!  There,  arranged  like  horses 
at  a  fair,  they  are  branded  like  cattle,  and  then 
driven  to  toil,  to  starve,  and  to  languish  for  a 
few  years  on  the  different  plantations  of  these 

citizens 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  227 

citizens.  And  for  whom  must  they  work? 
For  persons  they  know  not,  and  who  have 
no  other  power  over  them  than  that  of  vio 
lence;  no  other  right  than  what  this  accursed 
metal  has  given  them !  Strange  order  of  things ! 
Oh,  Nature,where  art  thou  ? — Are  not  these 
blacks  thy~chTIdren  as  well  as  we?  On  the 
other  side,  nothing  is  to  be  seen  but  the  most 
diffusive  misery  and  wretchedness,  unrelieved 
even  in  thought  or  wish!  Day  after  day  they 
drudge  on  without  any  prospect  of  ever  reap 
ing  for  themselves;  they  are  obliged  to  devote 
their  lives,  their  limbs,  their  will,  and  every 
vital  exertion  to  swell  the  wealth  of  masters; 
who  look  not  upon  them  with  half  the  kind 
ness  and  affection  with  which  they  consider 
their  dogs  and  horses.  Kindness  and  affection 
are  not  the  portion  of  those  who  till  the  earth, 
who  carry  the  burdens,  who  convert  the  logs 
into  useful  boards.  This  reward,  simple  and 
natural  as  one  would  conceive  it,  would  border 
on  humanity;  and  planters  must  have  none 
of  it! 

If  negroes  are  permitted  to  become  fathers, 
this  fatal  indulgence  only  tends  to  increase  their 
misery:  the  poor  companions  of  their  scanty 
pleasures  are  likewise  the  companions  of  their 
labours;  and  when  at  some  critical  seasons 
they  could  wish  to  see  them  relieved,  with  tears 

in 


228  REFLECTIONS  ON 

in  their  eyes  they  behold  them  perhaps  doubly 
oppressed,  obliged  to  bear  the  burden  of  na 
ture — a  fatal  present — as  well  as  that  of  un 
abated  tasks.  How  many  have  I  seen  cursing 
the  irresistible  propensity,  and  regretting,  that 
by  having  tasted  of  those  harmless  joys,  they 
had  become  the  authors  of  double  misery  to 
their  wives.  Like  their  masters,  they  are  not 
permitted  to  partake  of  those  ineffable  sensa 
tions  with  which  nature  inspires  the  hearts  of 
fathers  and  mothers ;  they  must  repel  them  all, 
and  become  callous  and  passive.  This  un 
natural  state  often  occasions  the  most  acute,  the 
most  pungent  of  their  afflictions;  they  have  no 
time,  like  us,  tenderly  to  rear  their  helpless  off 
spring,  to  nurse  them  on  their  knees,  to  enjoy 
the  delight  of  being  parents.  Their  paternal 
fondness  is  embittered  by  considering,  that  if 
their  children  live,  they  must  live  to  be  slaves 
like  themselves ;  no  time  is  allowed  them  to  ex 
ercise  their  pious  office,  the  mothers  must  fasten 
them  on  their  backs,  and,  with  this  double  load, 
follow  their  husbands  in  the  fields,  where  they 
too  often  hear  no  other  sound  than  that  of  the 
voice  or  whip  of  the  task-master,  and  the  cries 
of  their  infants,  broiling  in  the  sun.  These  un 
fortunate  creatures  cry  and  weep  like  their 
parents,  without  a  possibility  of  relief;  the 
very  instinct  of  the  brute,  so  laudable,  so  ir 
resistible, 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  229 

resistible,  runs  counter  here  to  their  master's 
interest;  and  to  that  god,  all  the  laws  of  nature 
must  give  way.  Thus  planters  get  rich ;  so  raw, 
so  unexperienced  am  I  in  this  mode  of  life, 
that  were  I  to  be  possessed  of  a  plantation,  and 
my  slaves  treated  as  in  general  they  are  here, 
never  could  I  rest  in  peace;  my  sleep  would 
be  perpetually  disturbed  by  a  retrospect  of 
the  frauds  committed  in  Africa,  in  order  to 
entrap  them;  frauds  surpassing  in  enormity 
every  thing  which  a  common  mind  can  possibly 
conceive.  I  should  be  thinking  of  the  barbar 
ous  treatment  they  meet  with  on  ship-board;  of 
their  anguish,  of  the  despair  necessarily  in 
spired  by  their  situation,  when  torn  from  their 
friends  and  relations;  when  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  a  people  differently  coloured,  whom 
they  cannot  understand; carried  in  a  strange  ma 
chine  over  an  ever  agitated  element,  which  they 
had  never  seen  before;  and  finally  delivered 
over  to  the  severities  of  the  whippers,  and  the 
excessive  labours  of  the  field.  Can  it  be  pos 
sible  that  the  force  of  custom  should  ever  make 
me  deaf  to  all  these  reflections,  and  as  insen 
sible  to  the  injustice  of  that  trade,  and  to  their 
miseries,  as  the  rich  inhabitants  of  this  town 
seem  to  be?  What  then  is  man;  this  being 
who  boasts  so  much  of  the  excellence  and  dig 
nity  of  his  nature,  among  that  variety  of  un- 

scrutable 


23o  REFLECTIONS  ON 

scrutable  mysteries,  of  unsolvable  problems, 
with  which  he  is  surrounded  ?  The  reason  why 
man  has  been  thus  created,  is  not  the  least 
astonishing !  It  is  said,  I  know  that  they  are 
much  happier  here  than  in  the  West-Indies;  be 
cause  land  being  cheaper  upon  this  continent 
than  in  those  islands,  the  fields  allowed  them  to 
raise  their  subsistence  from,  are  in  general  more 
extensive.  The  only  possible  chance  of  any 
alleviation  depends  on  the  humour  of  the 
planters,  who,  bred  in  the  midst  of  slaves,  learn 
from  the  example  of  their  parents  to  despise 
them;  and  seldom  conceive  either  from  religion 
or  philosophy,  any  ideas  that  tend  to  make 
their  fate  less  calamitous;  except  some  strong 
native  tenderness  of  heart,  some  rays  of  philan 
thropy,  overcome  the  obduracy  contracted  by 
habit. 

I  have  not  resided  here  long  enough  to  be 
come  insensible  of  pain  for  the  objects  which 
I  every  day  behold.  In  the  choice  of  my 
friends  and  acquaintance,  I  always  endeavour 
to  find  out  those  whose  dispositions  are  some 
what  congenial  with  my  own.  We  have  slaves 
likewise  in  our  northern  provinces;  I  hope  the 
time  draws  near  when  they  will  be  all  emanci 
pated:  but  how  different  their  lot,  how  differ 
ent  their  situation,  in  every  possible  respect! 
They  enjoy  as  much  liberty  as  their  masters, 

they 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  231 

they  are  as  well  clad,  and  as  well  fed;  in  health 
and  sickness  they  are  tenderly  taken  care  of; 
they  live  under  the  same  roof,  and  are,  truly 
speaking,  a  part  of  our  families.  Many  of  them 
are  taught  to  read  and  write,  and  are  well  in 
structed  in  the  principles  of  religion;  they  are 
the  companions  of  our  labours,  and  treated  as 
such;  they  enjoy  many  perquisites,  many  estab 
lished  holidays,  and  are  not  obliged  to  work 
more  than  white  people.  They  marry  where 
inclination  leads  them;  visit  their  wives  every 
week;  are  as  decently  clad  as  the  common  peo 
ple  ;  they  are  indulged  in  educating,  cherishing, 
and  chastising  their  children,  who  are  taught 
subordination  to  them  as  to  their  lawful 
parents:  in  short,  they  participate  in  many  of 
the"  benefits  of  our  society,  without  being 
obliged  to  bear  any  of  its  burthens.  They  are 
fat,  healthy,  and  hearty,  and  far  from  repining 
at  their  fate;  they  think  themselves  happier 
than  many  of  the  lower  class  whites :  they  share 
with  their  masters  the  wheat  and  meat  pro 
vision  they  help  to  raise;  many  of  those  whom 
the  good  Quakers  have  emancipated,  have  re 
ceived  that  great  benefit  with  tears  of  regret, 
and  have  never  quitted,  though  free,  their  for 
mer  masters  and  benefactors. 

But  is  it  really  true,  as  I  have  heard  it  as 
serted  here,  that  those  blacks  are  incapable  of 

feeling 


232  REFLECTIONS  ON 

feeling  the  spurs  of  emulation,  and  the  chearful 
sound  of  encouragement?  By  no  means;  there  are 
a  thousand  proofs  existing  of  their  gratitude 
and  fidelity:  those  hearts  in  which  such  noble 
dispositions  can  grow,  are  then  like  ours,  they 
are  susceptible  of  every  generous  sentiment,  of 
every  useful  motive  of  action;  they  are  capable 
of  receiving  lights,  of  imbibing  ideas  that 
would  greatly  alleviate  the  weight  of  their 
miseries.  But  what  methods  have  in  general 
been  made  use  of  to  obtain  so  desirable  an  end? 
None;  the  day  in  which  they  arrive  and  are 
sold,  is  the  first  of  their  labours;  labours,  which 
from  that  hour  admit  of  no  respite;  for  though 
indulged  by  law  with  relaxation  on  Sundays, 
they  are  obliged  to  employ  that  time  which  is 
intended  for  rest,  to  till  their  little  plantations. 
What  can  be  expected  from  wretches  in  such 
circumstances?  Forced  from  their  native 
country,  cruelly  treated  when  on  board,  and 
not  less  so  on  the  plantations  to  which  they 
are  driven;  is  there  any  thing  in  this  treat 
ment  but  what  must  kindle  all  the  passions, 
sow  the  seeds  of  inveterate  resentment,  and 
nourish  a  wish  of  perpetual  revenge?  They 
are  left  to  the  irresistible  effects  of  those  strong 
and  natural  propensities;  the  blows  they  re 
ceive  are  they  conducive  to  extinguish  them, 
or  to  win  their  affections?  They  are  neither 

soothed 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  233 

soothed  by  the  hopes  that  their  slavery  will 
ever  terminate  but  with  their  lives;  or  yet  en 
couraged  by  the  goodness  of  their  food,  or  the 
mildness  of  their  treatment.  The  very  hopes 
held  out  to  mankind  by  religion,  that  conso 
latory  system,  so  useful  to  the  miserable,  are 
never  presented  to  them;  neither  moral  nor 
physical  means  are  made  use  of  to  soften 
their  chains;  they  are  left  in  their  original  and 
untutored_state ;  that  very  state  where  in  the 
natural  propensities  of  revenge  and  warm  pas 
sions,  are  so  soon  kindled.  Cheered  by  no  one 
single  motive  that  can  impel  the  will,  or  ex 
cite  their  efforts;  nothing  but  terrors  and 
punishments  are  presented  to  them;  death  is 
denounced  if  they  run  away;  horrid  delacer- 
ation  if  they  speak  with  their  native  freedom; 
perpetually  awed  by  the  terrible  cracks  of 
whips,  or  by  the  fear  of  capital  punishments, 
while  even  those  punishments  often  fail  of 
their  purpose. 

A  clergyman  settled  a  few  years  ago  at 
George-Town,  and  feeling  as  I  do  now,  warmly 
recommended  to  the  planters,  from  the  pulpit, 
a  relaxation  of  severity;  he  introduced  the  be 
nignity  of  Christianity,  and  pathetically  made 
use  of  the  admirable  precepts  of  that  system 
to  melt  the  hearts  of  his  congregation  into  a 
greater  degree  of  compassion  toward  their 

slaves 


234  REFLECTIONS  ON 

slaves  than  had  been  hitherto  customary;  "  Sir 
"  (said  one  of  his  hearers)  we  pay  you  a  gen- 
"  teel  salary  to  read  to  us  the  prayers  of  the 
"  liturgy,  and  to  explain  to  us  such  parts  of 
"  the  Gospel  as  the  rule  of  the  church  directs; 
"  but  we  do  not  want  you  to  teach  us  what  we 
"  are  to  do  with  our  blacks."  The  clergyman 
found  it  prudent  to  with-hold  any  farther  ad 
monition.  Whence  this  astonishing  right,  or 
rather  this  barbarous  custom,  for  most  certainly 
we  have  no  kind  of  right  beyond  that  of  force? 
We  are  told,  it  is  true,  that  slavery  cannot  be 
so  repugnant  to  human  nature  as  we  at  first 
imagine,  because  it  has  been  practised  in  all 
ages,  and  in  all  nations:  the  Lacedemonians 
themselves,  those  great  assertors  of  liberty, 
conquered  the  Helotes  with  the  design  of 
making  them  their  slaves;  the  Romans,  whom 
we  consider  as  our  masters  in  civil  and  military 
policy,  lived  in  the  exercise  of  the  most  horrid 
oppression;  they  conquered  to  plunder  and  to 
enslave.  What  a  hideous  aspect  the  face  of  the 
earth  must  then  have  exhibited  I  Provinces, 
towns,  districts,  often  depopulated;  their  in 
habitants  driven  to  Rome,  the  greatest  market 
in  the  world,  and  there  sold  by  thousands! 
The  Roman  dominions  were  tilled  by  the  hands 
of  unfortunate  people,  who  had  once  been,  like 
their  victors  free,  rich,  and  possessed  of  every 

benefit 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  235 

benefit  society  can  confer;  until  they  became 
subject  to  the  cruel  right  of  war,  and  to  lawless 
force.  Is  there  then  no  superintending  power 
who  conducts  the  moral  operations  of  the 
world,  as  well  as  the  physical  ?  The  same  sub 
lime  hand  which  guides  the  planets  round  the 
sun  with  so  much  exactness,  which  preserves 
the  arrangement  of  the  whole  with  such  exalted 
wisdom  and  paternal  care,  and  prevents  the 
vast  system  from  falling  into  confusion;  doth 
it  abandon  mankind  to  all  the  errors,  the  fol 
lies,  and  the  miseries,  which  their  most  frantic 
rage,  and  their  most  dangerous  vices  and  pas 
sions  can  produce  ? 

The  history  of  the  earth !  doth  it  present  any 
thing  but  crimes  of  the  most  heinous  nature, 
committed  from  one  end  of  the  world  to  the 
other?  We  observe  avarice,  rapine,  and  mur 
der,  equally  prevailing  in  all  parts.  History 
perpetually  tells  us,  of  millions  of  people  aban 
doned  to  the  caprice  of  the  maddest  princes, 
and  of  whole  nations  devoted  to  the  blind  fury 
of  tyrants.  Countries  destroyed;  nations  alter 
nately  buried  in  ruins  by  other  nations;  some 
parts  of  the  world  beautifully  cultivated,  re 
turned  again  to  the  pristine  state;  the  fruits 
of  ages  of  industry,  the  toil  of  thousands  in  a 
short  time  destroyed  by  a  few!  If  One  corner 
breathes  in  peace  for  a  few  years,  it  is,  in  turn 

subjected, 


236  REFLECTIONS  ON 

subjected,  torne,  and  levelled;  one  would  al 
most  believe  the  principles  of  action  in  man, 
considered  as  the  first  agent  of  this  planet,  to 
be  poisoned  in  their  most  essential  parts.  We 
certainly  are  not  that  class  of  beings  which  we 
vainly  think  ourselves  to  be;  man  an  animal  of 
prey,  seems  to  have  rapine  and  the  love  of 
bloodshed  implanted  in  his  heart;  nay,  to  hold 
i\  it  the  most  honourable  occupation  in  society: 
we  never  speak  of  a  hero  of  mathematics,  a 
hero  of  knowledge  of  humanity;  no,  this  illus 
trious  appellation  is  reserved  for  the  most  suc- 
«/  cessful  butchers  of  the  world.  If  Nature  has 
given  us  a  fruitful  soil  to  inhabit,  she  has  re 
fused  us  such  inclinations  and  propensities  as 
would  afford  us  the  full  enjoyment  of  it.  Ex 
tensive  as  the  surface  of  this  planet  is,  not  one 
half  of  it  is  yet  cultivated,  not  half  replenished ; 
she  created  man,  and  placed  him  either  in  the 
woods  or  plains,  and  provided  him  with  pas 
sions  which  must  for  ever  oppose  his  happiness ; 
every  thing  is  submitted  to  the  power  of  the 
strongest ;  men,  like  the  elements,  are  always  at 
war;  the  weakest  yield  to  the  most  potent; 
force,  subtilty,  and  malice,  always  triumph 
over  unguarded  honesty,  and  simplicity.  Be 
nignity,  moderation,  and  justice,  are  virtues 
adapted  only  to  the  humble  paths  of  life:  we 
love  to  talk  of  virtue  and  to  admire  its  beauty, 

while 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  237 

while  in  the  shade  of  solitude,  and  retirement; 
but  when  we  step  forth  into  active  life,  if  it 
happen  to  be  in  competition  with  any  passion 
or  desire,  do  we  observe  it  to  prevail?  Hence 
so  many  religious  impostors  have  triumphed 
over  the  credulity  of  mankind,  and  have  ren 
dered  their  frauds  the  creeds  of  succeeding  gen 
erations,  during  the  course  of  many  ages;  until 
worne  away  by  time,  they  have  been  replaced 
by  new  ones.  Hence  the  most  unjust  war,  if 
supported  by  the  greatest  force,  always  suc 
ceeds;  hence  the  most  just  ones,  when  sup 
ported  only  by  their  justice,  as  often  fail.  Such 
is  the  ascendancy  of  power;  the  supreme  ar 
biter  of  all  the  revolutions  which  we  observe 
in  this  planet:  so  irresistible  is  power,  that  it 
often  thwarts  the  tendency  of  the  most  forcible 
causes,  and  prevents  their  subsequent  salutary 
effects,  though  ordained  for  the  good  of  man 
by  the  Governor  of  the  universe.  Such  is  the 
perverseness  of  human  nature;  who  can  de 
scribe  it  in  all  its  latitude? 

In  the  moments  of  our  philanthropy  we 
often  talk  of  an  indulgent  nature,  a  kind 
parent,  who  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  has 
taken  singular  pains  to  vary  the  genera  of 
plants,  fruits,  grain,  and  the  different  produc 
tions  of  the  earth;  and  has  spread  peculiar 
blessings  in  each  climate.  This  is  undoubtedly 

an 


23 8  REFLECTIONS  ON 

an  object  of  contemplation  which  calls  forth 
our  warmest  gratitude;  for  so  singularly 
benevolent  have  those  parental  intentions  been, 
that  where  barrenness  of  soil  or  severity  of  cli 
mate  prevail,  there  she  has  implanted  in  the 
heart  of  man,  sentiments  which  over-balance 
every  misery,  and  supply  the  place  of  every 
want.  She  has  given  to  the  inhabitants  of 
these  regions,  an  attachment  to  their  savage 
rocks  and  wild  shores,  unknown  to  those  who 
inhabit  the  fertile  fields  of  the  temperate  zone. 
Yet  if  we  attentively  view  this  globe,  will  it  not 
appear  rather  a  place  of  punishment,  than  of 
delight?  And  what  misfortune!  that  those 
punishments  should  fall  on  the  innocent,  and  its 
few  delights  be  enjoyed  by  the  most  unworthy. 
Famine,  diseases,  elementary  convulsions,  hu 
man  feuds,  dissensions,  &c.  are  the  produce  of 
^ every  climate;  each  climate  produces  besides, 
vices,  and  miseries  peculiar  to  its  latitude.  View 
the  frigid  sterility  of  the  north,  whose  famished 
inhabitants  hardly  acquainted  with  the  sun,  live 
and  fare  worse  than  the  bears  they  hunt :  and  to 
which  they  are  superior  only  in  the  faculty  of 
speaking.  View  the  arctic  and  antarctic  re 
gions,  those  huge  voids,  where  nothing  lives; 
regions  of  eternal  snow:  where  winter  in  all 
his  horrors  has  established  his  throne,  and  ar 
rested  every  creative  power  of  nature.  Will 

you 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  239 

you  call  the  miserable  stragglers  in  these  coun 
tries  by  the  name  of  men?  Now  contrast  this 
frigid  power  of  the  north  and  south  with  that 
of  the  sun;  examine  the  parched  lands  of  the 
torrid  zone,  replete  with  sulphureous  exhala 
tions;  view  those  countries  of  Asia  subject  to 
pestilential  infections  which  lay  nature  waste; 
view  this  globe  often  convulsed  both  from 
within  and  without;  pouring  forth  from  several 
mouths,  rivers  of  boiling  matter,  which  are  im 
perceptibly  leaving  immense  subterranean 
graves,  wherein  millions  will  one  day  perish ! 
Look  at  the  poisonous  soil  of  the  equator,  at 
those  putrid  slimy  tracks,  teeming  with  hor 
rid  monsters,  the  enemies  of  the  human  race; 
look  next  at  the  sandy  continent,  scorched  per 
haps  by  the  fatal  approach  of  some  ancient 
comet,  now  the  abode  of  desolation.  Examine 
the  rains,  the  convulsive  storms  of  those  cli 
mates,  where  masses  of  sulphur,  bitumen,  and 
electrical  fire,  combining  their  dreadful  powers, 
are  incessantly  hovering  and  bursting  over  a 
globe  threatened  with  dissolution.  On  this 
little  shell,  how  very  few  are  the  spots  where 
man  can  live  and  flourish?  even  under  those 
mild  climates  which  seem  to  breathe  peace  and 
happiness,  the  poison  of  slavery,  the  fury  of 
despotism,  and  the  rage  of  superstition,  are  all 
combined  against  man!  There  only  the  few 

live 


240 


REFLECTIONS  ON 


live  and  rule,  whilst  the  many  starve  and  utter 
ineffectual  complaints :  there,  human  nature  ap 
pears  more  debased,  perhaps  than  in  the  less 
favoured  climates.  The  fertile  plains  of  Asia, 
the  rich  low  lands  of  Egypt  and  of  Diarbeck, 
the  fruitful  fields  bordering  on  the  Tigris  and 
the  Euphrates,  the  extensive  country  of  the 
East-Indies  in  all  its  separate  districts;  all  these 
must  to  the  geographical  eye,  seem  as  if  in 
tended  for  terrestrial  paradises :  but  though  sur 
rounded  with  the  spontaneous  riches  of  nature 
though  her  kindest  favours  seem  to  be  shed  on 
those  beautiful  regions  with  the  most  profuse 
hand;  yet  there  in  general  we  find  the  most 
wretched  people  in  the  world.  Almost  every 
where,  tfbert^  so  natural  to  mankind,  is  refused, 
or  rather^Enjoyed  but  by  their  tyrants ;  the  word 
slave,  is  the  appellation  of  every  rank,  who  adore 
as  a  divinity,  a  being  worse  than  themselves; 
subject  to  every  caprice,  and  to  every  lawless 
rage  which  unrestrained  power  can  give.  Tears 
are  shed,  perpetual  groans  are  heard,  where 
only  the  accents  of  peace,  alacrity,  and  grati 
tude  should  resound.  There  the  very  delirium 
of  tyranny  tramples  on  the  best  gifts  of  nature, 
and  sports  with  the  fate,  the  happiness,  the 
lives  of  millions:  there  the  extreme  fertility  of 
the  ground  always  indicates  the  extreme  misery 
of  the  inhabitants! 

Every 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  241 

Every  where  one  part  of  the  human  species 
are  taught  the  art  of  shedding  the  blood  of 
the  other;  of  setting  fire  to  their  dwellings; 
of  levelling  the  works  of  their  industry :  half  of 
the  existence  of  nations  regularly  employed  in 
destroying  other  nations.  What  little  political 
felicity  is  to  be  met  with  here  and  there,  has 
cost  oceans  of  blood  to  purchase;  as  if  good 
was  never  to  be  the  portion  of  unhappy  man. 
Republics,  kingdoms,  monarchies,  founded 
either  on  fraud  or  successful  violence,  increase 
by  pursuing  the  steps  of  the  same  policy,  un 
til  they  are  destroyed  in  their  turn,  either  by 
the  influence  of  their  own  crimes,  or  by  more 
successful  but  equally  criminal  enemies. 

If  from  this  general  review  of  human  na 
ture,  we  descend  to  the  examination  of  what  is 
called  civilized  society;  there  the  combination 
of  every  natural  and  artifical  want,  makes  us 
pay  very  dear  for  what  little  share  of  political  > 
felicity  we  enjoy.  It  is  a  strange  heterogeneous 
assemblage  of  vices  and  virtues,  and  of  a  va 
riety  of  other  principles,  for  ever  at  war,  for 
ever  jarring  for  ever  producing  some  danger 
ous,  some  distressing  extreme.  Where  do  you 
conceive  then  that  nature  intended  we  should  be 
happy?  Would  you  prefer  the  state  of  men 
in  the  woods,  to  that  of  men  in  a  more  im 
proved  situation?  Evil  preponderates  in  both; 

in 


242     HORRID  TREATMENT  OF 

in  the  first  they  often  eat  each  other  for  want  of 
food,  and  in  the  other  they  often  starve  each 
other  for  want  of  room.  For  my  part,  I  think 
the  vices  and  miseries  to  be  found  in  the  latter, 
exceed  those  of  the  former;  in  which  real  evil 
is  more  scarce,  more  supportable,  and  less 
enormous.  Yet  we  wish  to  see  the  earth  peo 
pled;  to  accomplish  the  happiness  of  kingdoms, 
which  is  said  to  consist  in  numbers.  Gracious 
God!  to  what  end  is  the  introduction  of  so 
many  beings  into  a  mode  of  existence  in  which 
they  must  grope  amidst  as  many  errors,  com 
mit  as  many  crimes,  and  meet  with  as  many 
diseases,  wants,  and  sufferings ! 

The  following  scene  will  I  hope  account  for 
these  melancholy  reflections,  and  apologize  for 
the  gloomy  thoughts  with  which  I  have  filled 
this  letter:  my  mind  is,  and  always  has  been, 
oppressed  since  I  became  a  witness  to  it.  I  was 
not  long  since  invited  to  dine  with  a  planter 

who  lived  three  miles  from  ,  where  he 

then  resided.  In  order  to  avoid  the  heat  of  the 
sun,  I  resolved  to  go  on  foot,  sheltered  in  a 
small  path,  leading  through  a  pleasant  wood. 
I  was  leisurely  travelling  along,  attentively  ex 
amining  some  peculiar  plants  which  I  had  col 
lected,  when  all  at  once  I  felt  the  air  strongly 
agitated;  though  the  day  was  perfectly  calm 
and  sultry.  I  immediately  cast  my  eyes  to 
ward 


A  NEGRO  SLAVE.  243 

ward  the  cleared  ground,  from  which  I  was 
but  at  a  small  distance,  in  order  to  see  whether 
it  was  not  occasioned  by  a  sudden  shower;  when 
at  that  instant  a  sound  resembling  a  deep  rough 
voice,  uttered,  as  I  thought,  a  few  inarticulate 
monosyllables.  Alarmed  and  surprized,  I  pre 
cipitately  looked  all  round,  when  I  perceived  at 
about  six  rods  distance  something  resembling  a 
cage,  suspended  to  the  limbs  of  a  tree;  all  the 
branches  of  which  appeared  covered  with  large 
birds  of  prey,  fluttering  about,  and  anxiously 
endeavouring  to  perch  on  the  cage.  Actuated 
by  an  involuntary  motion  of  my  hands,  more 
than  by  any  design  of  my  mind,  I  fired  at  them; 
they  all  flew  to  a  short  distance,  with  a  most 
hideous  noise :  when,  horrid  to  think  and  pain 
ful  to  repeat,  I  perceived  a  negro,  suspended  in 
the  cage,  and  left  there  to  expire!  I  shudder 
when  I  recollect  that  the  birds  had  already 
picked  out  his  eyes,  his  cheek  bones  were  bare; 
his  arms  had  been  attacked  in  several  places, 
and  his  body  seemed  covered  with  a  multitude 
of  wounds.  From  the  edges  of  the  hollow 
sockets  and  from  the  lacerations  with  which  he 
was  disfigured,  the  blood  slowly  dropped,  and 
tinged  the  ground  beneath.  No  sooner  were 
the  birds  flown,  than  swarms  of  insects  covered 
the  whole  body  of  this  unfortunate  wretch, 
eager  to  feed  on  his  mangled  flesh  and  to  drink 

his 


244     HORRID  TREATMENT  OF 

his  blood.  I  found  myself  suddenly  arrested 
by  the  power  of  affright  and  terror;  rny  nerves 
were  convulsed;  I  trembled,  I  stood  motion 
less,  involuntarily  contemplating  the  fate  of 
this  negro,  in  all  its  dismal  latitude.  The  living 
spectre,  though  deprived  of  his  eyes,  could  still 
distinctly  hear,  and  in  his  uncouth  dialect 
begged  me  to  give  him  some  water  to  allay 
his  thirst.  Humanity  herself  would  have  re 
coiled  back  with  horror;  she  would  have  bal 
anced  whether  to  lessen  such  reliefless  distress, 
or  mercifully  with  one  blow  to  end  this  dread 
ful  scene  of  agonizing  torture!  Had  I  had  a 
ball  in  my  gun,  I  certainly  should  have  des 
patched  him ;  but  finding  myself  unable  to  per 
form  so  kind  an  office,  I  sought,  though  trem 
bling,  to  relieve  him  as  well  as  I  could.  A  shell 
ready  fixed  to  a  pole,  which  had  been  used  by 
some  negroes,  presented  itself  to  me;  filled  it 
with  water,  and  with  trembling  hands  I  guided 
it  to  the  quivering  lips  of  the  wretched  sufferer. 
Urged  by  the  irresistible  power  of  thirst,  he 
endeavoured  to  meet  it,  as  he  instinctively 
guessed  its  approach  by  the  noise  it  made  in 
passing  through  the  bars  of  the  cage.  "Tanke, 
"  you  white  man,  tanke  you,  pute  some  poy- 
"  son  and  give  me."  How  long  have  you  been 
hanging  there?  I  asked  him.  "Two  days, 
"and  me  no  die;  the  birds,  the  birds;  aaah 

"me  I" 


A  NEGRO  SLAVE.  245 


"  me !'  Oppressed  with  the  reflections  which 
this  shocking  spectacle  afforded  me,  I  mustered 
strength  enough  to  walk  away,  and  soon 
reached  the  house  at  which  I  intended  to  dine. 
There  I  heard  that  the  reason  for  this  slave 
being  thus  punished,  was  on  account  of  his 
having  killed  the  overseer  of  the  plantation. 
They  told  me  that  the  laws  of  self-preserva 
tion  rendered  such  executions  necessary;  and 
supported  the  doctrine  of  slavery  with  the  argu 
ments  generally  made  use  of  to  justify  the  prac 
tice;  with  the  repetition  of  which  I  shall  not 
trouble  you  at  present. 

Adieu. 


LETTER 


246  ON  SNAKES,  AND 

LETTER  X. 

ON  SNAKES ;  AND  ON  THE  HUMMING  BIRD. 

WHY  would  you  prescribe  this  task; 
you  know  that  what  we  take  up 
ourselves  seems  always  lighter  than 
what  is  imposed  on  us  by  others.  You  insist 
on  my  saying  something  about  our  snakes;  and 
in  relating  what  I  know  concerning  them,  were 
it  not  for  two  singularities,  the  one  of  which 
I  saw,  and  the  other  I  received  from  an  eye 
witness,  I  should  have  but  very  little  to  ob 
serve.  The  southern  provinces  are  the 
countries  where  nature  has  formed  the 
greatest  variety  of  alligators,  snakes,  serpents; 
and  scorpions,  from  the  smallest  size,  up  to 
the  pine  barren,  the  largest  species  known  here. 
We  have  but  two,  whose  stings  are  mortal, 
which  deserve  to  be  mentioned;  as  for  the 
black  one,  it  is  remarkable  for  nothing  but  its 
industry,  agility,  beauty,  and  the  art  of  intic- 
ing  birds  by  the  power  of  its  eyes.  I  admire  it 
much,  and  never  kill  it,  though  its  formidable 
length  and  appearance  often  get  the  better  of 
the  philosophy  of  some  people,  particularly  of 

Europeans. 


THE  HUMMING  BIRD.        247 

Europeans.  The  most  dangerous  one  is  the 
-pilot,  or  copperhead',  for  the  poison  of  which 
no  remedy  has  yet  been  discovered.  It  bears  the  ^ 
first  name  because  it  always  precedes  the  rattle-  ^ 
snake;  that  is,  quits  its  state  of  torpidity  in  the  7* 
*»  Beate€Jy:felefr jgEL btao  J.ii r  1:1  j  11 u IFI  ii .  jTlMBHn  ifa 
second  name  on  account  of  its  head  being  . 
adorned  with  many  copper-coloured  spots.  It 
lurks  in  rocks  near  the  water,  and  is  extremely 
active  and  dangerous.  Let  man  beware  of  it ! 
I  have  heard  only  of  one  person  who  was 
stung  by  a  copperhead  in  this  country.  The 
poor  wretch  instantly  swelled  in  a  most  dread 
ful  manner;  a  multitude  of  spots  of  different 
hues  alternately  appeared  and  vanished,  on 
different  parts  of  his  body;  his  eyes  were  filled 
with  madness  and  rage,  he  cast  them  on  all 
present  with  the  most  vindictive  looks:  he 
thrust  out  his  tongue  as  the  snakes  do;  he 
hissed  through  his  teeth  with  inconceivable 
strength,  and  became  an  object  of  terror  to  all 
bye-standers.  To  the  lividness  of  a  corpse  he 
united  the  desperate  force  of  a  maniac;  they 
hardly  were  able  to  fasten  him,  so  as  to  guard 
themselves  from  his  attacks;  when  in  the  space 
of  two  hours  death  relieved  the  poor  wretch 
from  his  struggles,  and  the  spectators  from 
their  apprehensions.  The  poison  of  the  rattle 
snake  is  not  mortal  in  so  short  a  space,  and 

J  hence 


248  ON  SNAKES,  AND 

hence  there  is  more  time  to  procure  relief;  we 
are    acquainted    with    several    antidotes    with 
which  almost  every  family  is  provided.     They 
are  extremely  inactive,  and  if  not  touched,  are 
perfectly  inoffensive.     I  once  saw,   as  I  was 
travelling,  a  great  cliff  which  was  full  of  them; 
I  handled  several,   and  they  appeared  to  be 
dead ;  they  were  all  entwined  together,  and  thus 
they  remain  until  the  return  of  the  sun.  I  found 
them  out,  by  following  the  track  of  some  wild 
hogs  which  had  fed  on  them;  and  even  the  In 
dians  often  regale  on  them.     When  they  find 
them  asleep,  they  put  a  small  forked  stick  over 
their  necks,  which  they  keep  immoveably  fixed 
on  the  ground;  giving  the  snake  a  piece  of 
leather  to  bite :  and  this  they  pull  back  several 
times  with  great  force,  until  they  observe  their 
two  poisonous  fangs  torne  out.   Then  they  cut 
off  the  head,  skin  the  body,  and  cook  it  as  we 
do  eels;  and  their  flesh  is  extremely  sweet  and 
white.     I  once  saw  a  tamed  one,  as  gentle  as 
you  can  possibly  conceive  a  reptile  to  be;  it 
took   to   the    water    and   swam   whenever   it 
pleased;  and  when  the  boys  to  whom  it  be 
longed    called    it   back,    their    summons   was 
readily  obeyed.     It  had  been  deprived  of  its 
fangs  by   the   preceding  method;   they  often 
stroked  it  with  a  soft  brush,  and  this  friction 
seemed  to  cause  the  most  pleasing  sensations, 

for 


THE  HUMMING  BIRD.        249 

for  it  would  turn  on  its  back  to  enjoy  it,  as  a 
cat  does  before  the  fire.  One  of  this  species 
was  the  cause,  some  years  ago,  of  a  most  de 
plorable  accident  which  I  shall  relate  to  you,  as 
I  had  it  from  the  widow  and  mother  of  the 
victims.  A  Dutch  farmer  of  the  Minisink  went 
to  mowing,  with  his  negroes,  in  his  boots,  a 
precaution  used  to  prevent  being  stung.  Inad 
vertently  he  trod  on  a  snake,  which  immedi 
ately  flew  at  his  legs;  and  as  it  drew  back  in 
order  to  renew  its  blow,  one  of  his  negroes  cut 
it  in  two  with  his  scythe.  They  prosecuted  their 
work,  and  returned  home ;  at  night  the  farmer 
pulled  off  his  boots  and  went  to  bed;  and  was 
soon  after  attacked  with  a  strange  sickness  at 
his  stomach;  he  swelled,  and  before  a  physician 
could  be  sent  for,  died.  The  sudden  death  of 
this  man  did  not  cause  much  inquiry;  the  neigh 
bourhood  wondered,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases, 
and  without  any  further  examination  the  corpse 
was  buried.  A  few  days  after,  the  son  put  on 
his  father's  boots,  and  went  to  the  meadow ;  at 
night  he  pulled  them  off,  went  to  bed,  and  was 
attacked  with  the  same  symptoms  about  the 
same  time,  and  died  in  the  morning.  A  little 
before  he  expired  the  doctor  came,  but  was 
not  able  to  assign  what  could  be  the  cause  of 
so  singular  a  disorder;  however,  rather  than 
appear  wholly  at  a  loss  before  the  country  peo 
ple,  he 


250  ON  SNAKES,  AND 

pie,  he  pronounced  both  father  and  son  to  have 
been  bewitched.  Some  weeks  after,  the  widow 
sold  all  the  moveables  for  the  benefit  of  the 
younger  children;  and  the  farm  was  leased. 
One  of  the  neighbours,  who  bought  the  boots, 
presently  put  them  on,  and  was  attacked  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  other  two  had  been;  but 
this  man's  wife  being  alarmed  by  what  had  hap 
pened  in  the  former  family,  dispatched  one  of 
her  negroes  for  an  eminent  physician,  who  for 
tunately  having  heard  something  of  the  dread 
ful  affair,  guessed  at  the  cause,  applied  oil,  &c. 
and  recovered  the  man.  The  boots  which  had 
been  so  fatal,  were  then  carefully  examined; 
and  he  found  that  the  two  fangs  of  the  snake 
had  been  left  in  the  leather,  after  being 
wrenched  out  of  their  sockets  by  the  strength 
with  which  the  snake  had  drawn  back  its  head. 
The  bladders  which  contained  the  poison,  and 
several  of  the  small  nerves  were  still  fresh,  and 
adhered  to  the  boot.  The  unfortunate  father 
and  son  had  been  poisoned  by  pulling  off  these 
boots,  in  which  action  they  imperceptibly 
scratched  their  legs  with  the  points  of  the 
fangs,  through  the  hollow  of  which,  some  of 
this  astonishing  poison  was  conveyed.  You 
have  no  doubt  heard  of  their  rattles,  if  you 
have  not  seen  them ;  the  only  observation  I  wish 
to  make  is,  that  the  rattling  is  loud  and  distinct 

when 


THE  HUMMING  BIRD.        251 

when  they  are  angry;  and  on  the  contrary, 
when  pleased,  it  sounds  like  a  distant  trepida 
tion,  in  which  nothing  distinct  is  heard.  In  the 
thick  settlements,  they  are  now  become  very 
scarce;  for  wherever  they  are  met  with,  open 
war  is  declared  against  them;  so  that  in  a  few 
years  there  will  be  none  left  but  on  our  moun 
tains.  The  black  snake  on  the  contrary,  always 
diverts  me  because  it  excites  no  idea  of  danger. 
Their  swiftness  is  astonishing;  they  will  some 
times  equal  that  of  an  horse;  at  other  times 
they  will  climb  up  trees  in  quest  of  our  tree 
toads;  or  glide  on  the  ground  at  full  length. 
On  some  occasions  they  present  themselves  half 
in  the  reptile  state,  half  erect;  their  eyes  and 
their  heads  in  the  erect  posture,  appear  to  great 
advantage:  the  former  display  a  fire  which  I 
have  often  admired,  and  it  is  by  these  they  are 
enabled  to  fascinate  birds  and  squirrels.  When 
they  have  fixed  their  eyes  on  an  animal,  they 
become  immoveable;  only  turning  their  head 
sometimes  to  the  right  and  sometimes  to  the 
left,  but  still  with  their  sight  invariably  di 
rected  to  the  object.  The  distracted  victim,  in 
stead  of  flying  its  enemy,  seems  to  be  arrested 
by  some  invincible  power;  it  screams;  now  ap 
proaches,  and  then  recedes;  and  after  skipping 
about  with  unaccountable  agitation,  finally 
rushes  into  the  jaws  of  the  snake,  and  is  swal 
lowed, 

*  / 


25 2  ON  SNAKES,  AND 

lowed,  as  soon  as  it  is  covered  with  a  slime  or 
glue  to  make  it  slide  easily  down  the  throat  of 
the  devourer. 

One  anecdote  I  must  relate,  the  circum 
stances  of  which  are  as  true  as  they  are  singu 
lar.  One  of  my  constant  walks  when  I  am 
at  leisure,  is  in  my  lowlands,  where  I  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  my  cattle,  horses,  and  colts. 
Exuberant  grass  replenishes  all  my  fields,  the 
best  representative  of  our  wealth;  in  the  mid 
dle  of  that  track  I  have  cut  a  ditch  eight  feet 
wide,  the  banks  of  which  nature  adorns  every 
spring  with  the  wild  salendine,  and  other 
flowering  weeds,  which  on  these  luxuriant 
grounds  shoot  up  to  a  great  height.  Over  this 
ditch  I  have  erected  a  bridge,  capable  of  bear 
ing  a  loaded  waggon ;  on  each  side  I  carefully 
sow  every  year,  some  grains  of  hemp,  which 
rise  to  the  height  of  fifteen  feet,  so  strong  and 
so  full  of  limbs  as  to  resemble  young  trees:  I 
once  ascended  one  of  them  four  feet  above  the 
ground.  These  produce  natural  arbours,  ren 
dered  often  still  more  compact  by  the  assist 
ance  of  an  annual  creeping  plant  which  we  call 
a  vine,  that  never  fails  to  entwine  itself  among 
their  branches,  and  always  produces  a  very  de 
sirable  shade.  From  this  simple  grove  I  have 
amused  myself  an  hundred  times  in  observing 
the  great  number  of  humming  birds  with  which 

our 


THE  HUMMING  BIRD.        253 

our  country  abounds:  the  wild  blossoms  every 
where  attract  the  attention  of  these  birds,  which 
like  bees  subsist  by  suction.  From  this  retreat 
I  distinctly  watch  them  in  all  their  various  at 
titudes;  but  their  flight  is  so  rapid,  that  you 
cannot  distinguish  the  motion  of  their  wings. 
On  this  little  bird  nature  has  profusely  lavished 
her  most  splendid  colours;  the  most  perfect 
azure,  the  most  beautiful  gold,  the  most  daz 
zling  red,  are  for  ever  in  contrast,  and  help  to 
embellish  the  plumes  of  his  majestic  head.  The 
richest  pallet  of  the  most  luxuriant  painter, 
could  never  invent  any  thing  to  be  compared  to 
the  variegated  tints,  with  which  this  insect  bird 
is  arrayed.  Its  bill  is  as  long  and  as  sharp  as 
a  coarse  sewing  needle ;  like  the  bee,  nature  has 
taught  it  to  find  out  in  the  calix  of  flowers  and 
blossoms,  those  mellifluous  particles  that  serve 
it  for  sufficient  food ;  and  yet  it  seems  to  leave 
them  untouched,  undeprived  of  any  thing  that 
our  eyes  can  possibly  distinguish.  When  it 
feeds,  it  appears  as  if  immoveable,  though  con 
tinually  on  the  wing;  and  sometimes,  from 
what  motives  I  know  not,  it  will  tear  and 
lacerate  flowers  into  a  hundred  pieces:  for, 
strange  to  tell,  they  are  the  most  irascible  of  the 
feathered  tribe.  Where  do  passions  find  room 
in  so  diminutive  a  body?  They  often  fight  with 
the  fury  of  lions,  until  one  of  the  combatants 

falls 


254          A  FURIOUS  BATTLE 

falls  a  sacrifice  and  dies.  When  fatigued,  it 
has  often  perched  within  a  few  feet  of  me,  and 
on  such  favourable  opportunities  I  have  sur 
veyed  it  with  the  most  minute  attention.  Its 
little  eyes  appear  like  diamonds,  reflecting  light 
on  every  side:  most  elegantly  finished  in  all 
parts  it  is  a  miniature  work  of  our  great  parent; 
who  seems  to  have  formed  it  the  smallest,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  most  beautiful  of  the 
winged  species. 

As  I  was  one  day  sitting  solitary  and  pensive 
in  my  primitive  arbour,  my  attention  was  en 
gaged  by  a  strange  sort  of  rustling  noise  at 
some  paces  distant.  I  looked  all  around  with 
out  distinguishing  any  thing,  until  I  climbed 
one  of  my  great  hemp  stalks ;  when  to  my  aston 
ishment,  I  beheld  two  snakes  of  considerable 
length,  the  one  pursuing  the  other  with  great 
celerity  through  a  hemp  stubble  field.  The 
aggressor  was  of  the  black  kind,  six  feet  long; 
the  fugitive  was  a  water  snake,  nearly  of  equal 
dimensions.  They  soon  met,  and  in  the  fury 
of  their  first  encounter,  they  appeared  in  an  in 
stant  firmly  twisted  together;  and  whilst  their 
united  tails  beat  the  ground,  they  mutually 
tried  with  open  jaws  to  lacerate  each  other. 
What  a  fell  aspect  did  they  present !  their  heads 
were  compressed  to  a  very  small  size,  their 
eyes  flashed  fire;  and  after  this  conflict  had 

lasted 


BETWEEN  TWO  SNAKES.      255 

lasted  about  five  minutes,  the  second  found 
means  to  disengage  itself  from  the  first,  and 
hurried  toward  the  ditch.  Its  antagonist  in 
stantly  assumed  a  new  posture,  and  half  creep 
ing  and  half  erect,  with  a  majestic  mein,  over 
took  and  attacked  the  other  again,  which  placed 
itself  in  the  same  attitude,  and  prepared  to  re 
sist.  The  scene  was  uncommon  and  beautiful; 
for  thus  opposed  they  fought  with  their  jaws, 
biting  each  other  with  the  utmost  rage ;  but  not 
withstanding  this  appearance  of  mutual  cour 
age  and  fury,  the  water  snake  still  seemed  de 
sirous  of  retreating  toward  the  ditch,  its  nat 
ural  element.  This  was  no  sooner  perceived  by 
the  keen-eyed  black  one,  than  twisting  its  tail 
twice  round  a  stalk  of  hemp,  and  seizing  its 
adversary  by  the  throat,  not  by  means  of  its 
jaws,  but  by  twisting  its  own  neck  twice  round 
that  of  the  water  snake,  pulled  it  back  from  the 
ditch.  To  prevent  a  defeat  the  latter  took  hold 
likewise  of  a  stalk  on  the  bank,  and  by  the  ac 
quisition  of  that  point  of  resistance  became  a 
match  for  its  fierce  antagonist.  Strange  was 
this  to  behold;  two  great  snakes  strongly  adher 
ing  to  the  ground  mutually  fastened  together 
by  means  of  the  writhings  which  lashed  them  to 
each  other,  and  stretched  at  their  full  length, 
they  pulled  but  pulled  in  vain;  and  in  the  mo 
ments  of  greatest  exertions  that  part  of  their 

bodies 


256          A  FURIOUS  BATTLE 

bodies  which  was  entwined,  seemed  extremely 
small,  while  the  rest  appeared  inflated,  and  now 
and  then  convulsed  with  strong  undulations, 
rapidly  following  each  other.  Their  eyes 
seemed  on  fire,  and  ready  to  start  out  of  their 
heads;  at  one  time  the  conflict  seemed  decided; 
the  water-snake  bent  itself  into  two  great  folds, 
and  by  that  operation  rendered  the  other  more 
than  commonly  outstretched;  the  next  minute 
the  new  struggles  of  the  black  one  gained  an 
unexpected  superiority,  it  acquired  two  great 
folds  likewise,  which  necessarily  extended  the 
body  of  its  adversary  in  proportion  as  it  had 
contracted  its  own.  These  efforts  were  alter 
nate;  victory  seemed  doubtful,  inclining  some 
times  to  the  one  side  and  sometimes  to  the 
other;  until  at  last  the  stalk  to  which  the  black 
snake  fastened,  suddenly  gave  way,  and  in  con 
sequence  of  this  accident  they  both  plunged 
into  the  ditch.  The  water  did  not  extinguish 
their  vindictive  rage;  for  by  their  agitations  I 
could  trace,  though  not  distinguish  their  mutual 
attacks.  They  soon  re-appeared  on  the  surface 
twisted  together,  as  in  their  first  onset ;  but  the 
black  snake  seemed  to  retain  its  wonted  su 
periority,  for  its  head  was  exactly  fixed  above 
that  of  the  other,  which  it  incessantly  pressed 
down  under  the  water,  until  it  was  stifled,  and 
sunk.  The  victor  no  sooner  perceived  its 

enemy 


BETWEEN  TWO  SNAKES.      257 

enemy  incapable  of  farther  resistance,  than 
abandoning  it  to  the  current,  it  returned  on 
shore  and  disappeared. 


LETTER 


258     VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 


LETTER    XL 

FROM  MR.  IW N  AL Z,  A  RUSSIAN  GENTLE 
MAN;  DESCRIBING  THE  VISIT  HE  PAID  AT  MY 
REQUEST  TO  MR.  JOHN  BERTRAM,  THE 
CELEBRATED  PENSYLVANIAN  BOTANIST. 

EXAMINE  this  flourishing  province,  in 
whatever  light  you  will,  the  eyes  as  well 
as  the  mind  of  an  European  traveller 
are  equally  delighted;  because  a  diffusive  hap 
piness  appears  in  every  part:  happiness  which 
is  established  on  the  broadest  basis.  The  wis 
dom  of  Lycurgus  and  Solon,  never  conferred 
on  man  one  half  of  the  blessings  and  uninter 
rupted  prosperity  which  the  Pennsylvanians 
now  possess :  the  name  of  Penn,  that  simple  but 
illustrious  citizen,  does  more  honour  to  the 
English  nation  than  those  of  many  of  their 
kings. 

In  order  to  convince  you  that  I  have  not  be 
stowed  undeserved  praises,  in  my  former  letters 
on  this  celebrated  government;  and  that  either 
nature  or  the  climate  seems  to  be  more  favour 
able  here  to  the  arts  and  sciences,  than  to  any 
other  American  province;  let  us  together, 

agreeable 


THE  BOTANIST.  259 

agreeable  to  your  desire,  pay  a  visit  to  Mr. 
John  Bertram,  the  first  botanist,  in  this  new 
hemisphere :  become  such  by  a  native  impulse  of 
disposition.  It  is  to  this  simple  man  that 
America  is  indebted  for  several  useful  discov 
eries,  and  the  knowledge  of  many  new  plants. 
I  had  been  greatly  prepossessed  in  his  favour  by 
the  extensive  correspondence  which  I  knew  he 
held  with  the  most  eminent  Scotch  and  French 
botanists;  I  knew  also  that  he  had  been  hon 
oured  with  that  of  Queen  Ulrica  of  Sweden. 

His  house  is  small,  but  decent;  there  was 
something  peculiar  in  its  first  appearance,  which 
seemed  to  distinguish  it  from  those  of  his  neigh 
bours:  a  small  tower  in  the  middle  of  it,  not 
only  helped  to  strengthen  it  but  afforded  con 
venient  room  for  a  staircase.  Every  disposi 
tion  of  the  fields,  fences,  and  trees,  seemed  to 
bear  the  marks  of  perfect  order  and  regularity, 
which  in  rural  affairs,  always  indicate  a  pros 
perous  industry. 

I  was  received  at  the  door  by  a  woman 
dressed  extremely  neat  and  simple,  who  with 
out  courtesying,  or  any  other  ceremonial,  asked 
me,  with  an  air  of  benignity,  whorl  wanted? 
I  answered,  I  should  be  glad  to  see  Mr.  Ber 
tram.  If  thee  wilt  step  in  and  take  a  chair,  I 
will  send  for  him.  No,  I  said,  I  had  rather 
have  the  pleasure  of  walking  through  his  farm, 

I  shall 


260     VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 

I  shall  easily  find  him  out,  with  your  directions. 
After  a  little  time  I  perceived  the  Schuylkill, 
winding  through  delightful  meadows,  and  soon 
cast  my  eyes  on  a  new-made  bank,  which 
seemed  greatly  to  confine  its  stream.  After 
having  walked  on  its  top  a  considerable  way  I 
at  last  reached  the  place  where  ten  men  were 
at  work.  I  asked,  if  any  of  them  could  tell  me 
where  Mr.  Bertram  was?  An  elderly  looking 
man,  with  wide  trowsers  and  a  large  leather 
apron  on,  looking  at  me  said,  "My  name  is 
"Bertram,  dost  thee  want  me?"  Sir,  I  am 
come  on  purpose  to  converse  with  you,  if  you 
can  be  spared  from  your  labour.  "Very  easily 
"  (he  answered)  I  direct  and  advise  more  than 
"  I  work."  We  walked  toward  the  house, 
where  he  made  me  take  a  chair  while  he  went 
to  put  on  clean  clothes,  after  which  he  returned 
and  sat  down  by  me.  The  fame  of  your  knowl 
edge,  said  I,  in  American  botany,  and  your  well- 
known  hospitality,  have  induced  me  to  pay  you 
a  visit,  which  I  hope  you  will  not  think  trouble 
some:  I  should  be  glad  to  spend  a  few  hours 
in  your  garden.  "The  greatest  advantage  (re- 
"  plied  he)  which  I  receive  from  what  thee 
"  callest  my  botanical  fame,  is  the  pleasure 
"  which  it  often  procureth  me  in  receiving  the 
"  visits  of  friends  and  foreigners :  but  our  jaunt 
"  into  the  garden  must  be  postponed  for  the 

"  present, 


THE  BOTANIST.  261 

"  present,  as  the  bell  is  ringing  for  dinner." 
We  entered  into  a  large  hall,  where  there  was  a 
long  table  full  of  victuals;  at  the  lowest  part 
sat  his  negroes,  his  hired  men  were  next,  then 
the  family  and  myself;  and  at  the  head,  the 
venerable  father  and  his  wife  presided.  Each 
reclined  his  head  and  said  his  prayers,  divested 
of  the  tedious  cant  of  some,  and  of  the  ostenta 
tious  stile  of  others.  "After  the  luxuries  of 
"  our  cities,  (observed  he)  this  plain  fare  must 
"  appear  to  thee  a  severe  fast."  By  no  means, 
Mr.  Bertram,  this  honest  country  dinner  con 
vinces  me,  that  you  receive  me  as  a  friend  and 
an  old  acquaintance.  "I  am  glad  of  it,  for  thee 
"  art  heartily  welcome.  I  never  knew  how  to 
"  use  ceremonies;  they  are  insufficient  proofs  of 
"sincerity;  our  society,  besides,  are  utterly 
"  strangers  to  what  the  world  calleth  polite  ex- 
"  pressions.  We  treat  others  as  we  treat  our- 
"  selves.  I  received  yesterday  a  letter  from 
41  Philadelphia,  by  which  I  understand  thee  art 
"a  Russian;  what  motives  can  possibly  have 
"  induced  thee  to  quit  thy  native  country  and 
"  to  come  so  far  in  quest  of  knowledge  or 
"pleasure?  Verily  it  is  a  great  compliment 
"  thee  payest  to  this  our  young  province,  to 
"  think  that  any  thing  it  exhibiteth  may  be 
"  worthy  thy  attention."  I  have  been  most 
amply  repaid  for  the  trouble  of  the  passage.  I 

view 


262     VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 

view  the  present  Americans  as  the  seed  of 
future  nations,  which  will  replenish  this  bound 
less  continent;  the  Russians  may  be  in  some 
respects  compared  to  you;  we  likewise  are  a 
new  people,  new  I  mean  in  knowledge,  arts,  and 
improvements.  Who  knows  what  revolutions 
Russia  and  America  may  one  day  bring  about; 
we  are  perhaps  nearer  neighbours  than  we  im 
agine.  I  view  with  peculiar  attention,  all  your 
towns,  I  examine  their  situation  and  the  police, 
for  which  many  are  already  famous.  Though 
their  foundations  are  now  so  recent,  and  so  well 
remembered,  yet  their  origin  will  puzzle  pos 
terity  as  much  as  we  are  now  puzzled  to  ascer 
tain  the  beginning  of  those  which  time  has  in 
some  measure  destroyed.  Your  new  buildings, 
your  streets,  put  me  in  mind  of  those  of  the 
city  of  Pompeia,  where  I  was  a  few  years  ago ; 
I  attentively  examined  every  thing  there,  par 
ticularly  the  foot-path  which  runs  along  the 
houses.  They  appeared  to  have  been  consider 
ably  worn  by  the  great  number  of  people  which 
had  once  travelled  over  them.  But  now  how 
distant;  neither  builders  nor  proprietors  re 
main  ;  nothing  is  known !  "Why  thee  hast  been 
"  a  great  traveller  for  a  man  of  thy  years." 
Few  years,  Sir,  will  enable  any  body  to  journey 
over  a  great  track  of  country;  but  it  requires  a 
superior  degree  of  knowledge  to  gather  har 
vests 


THE  BOTANIST.  263 

vests  as  we  go.  Pray,  Mr.  Bertram,  what  banks 
are  those  which  you  are  making:  to  what  pur 
pose  is  so  much  expence  and  so  much  labour 
bestowed?  "Friend  Iwan,  no  branch  of  in- 
"  dustry  was  ever  more  profitable  to  any  coun- 
"  try,  as  well  as  to  the  proprietors;  the  Schuyl- 
"  kill  in  its  many  windings  once  covered  a  great 
"  extent  of  ground,  though  its  waters  were  but 
"  shallow  even  in  our  highest  tides :  and  though 
"  some  parts  were  always  dry,  yet  the  whole  of 
"  this  great  track  presented  to  the  eye  nothing 
"  but  a  putrid  swampy  soil,  useless  either  for 
"  the  plough  or  for  the  scythe.  The  proprietors 
"  of  these  grounds  are  now  incorporated;  we 
"  yearly  pay  to  the  treasurer  of  the  company  a 
"  certain  sum,  which  makes  an  aggregate,  su- 
"  perior  to  the  casualties  that  generally  happen 
11  either  by  inundations  or  the  musk  squash.  It 
"  is  owing  to  this  happy  contrivance  that  so 
"  many  thousand  acres  of  meadows  have  been 
"  rescued  from  the  Schuylkill,  which  now  both 
"  enricheth  and  embellisheth  so  much  of  the 
"  neighbourhood  of  our  city.  Our  brethren  of 
"  Salem  in  New  Jersey  have  carried  the  art  of 
"  banking  to  a  still  higher  degree  of  perfec- 
"  tion."  It  is  really  an  admirable  contrivance, 
which  greatly  redounds  to  the  honour  of  the 
parties  concerned;  and  shews  a  spirit  of  dis 
cernment  and  perseverance  which  is  highly 

praise-worthy : 


264     VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 

praise-worthy:  if  the  Virginians  would  imitate 
your  example,  the  state  of  their  husbandry 
would  greatly  improve.  I  have  not  heard  of 
any  such  association  in  any  other  parts  of  the 
continent;  Pensylvania  hitherto  seems  to  reign 
the  unrivalled  queen  of  these  fair  provinces. 
Pray,  Sir,  what  expence  are  you  at  e'er  these 
grounds  be  fit  for  the  scythe?  "The  expences 
"  are  very  considerable,  particularly  when  we 
"  have  land,  brooks,  trees,  and  brush  to  clear 
"  away.  But  such  is  the  excellence  of  these 
"  bottoms  and  the  goodness  of  the  grass  for 
"  fattening  of  cattle,  that  the  produce  of  three 
"  years  pays  all  advances."  Happy  the  coun 
try  where  nature  has  bestowed  such  rich  treas 
ures,  treasures  superior  to  mines,  said  I :  if  all 
this  fair  province  is  thus  cultivated,  no  wonder 
it  has  acquired  such  reputation,  for  the  pros 
perity  and  the  industry  of  its  inhabitants. 

By  this  time  the  working  part  of  the  family 
had  finished  their  dinner,  and  had  retired  with 
a  decency  and  silence  which  pleased  me  much. 
Soon  after  I  heard,  as  I  thought,  a  distant  con 
cert  of  instruments. — However  simple  and 
pastoral  your  fare  was,  Mr.  Bertram,  this  is  the 
desert  of  a  prince;  pray  what  is  this  I  hear? 
'  Thee  must  not  be  alarmed,  it  is  of  a  piece 
"  with  the  rest  of  thy  treatment,  friend  Iwan." 
Anxious  I  followed  the  sound,  and  by  ascending 

the 


THE  BOTANIST.  265 

the  staircase,  found  that  it  was  the  effect  of 
the  wind  through  the  strings  of  an  Eolian  harp ; 
an  instrument  which  I  had  never  before  seen. 
After  dinner  we  quaffed  an  honest  bottle  of 
Madeira  wine,  without  the  irksome  labour  of 
toasts,  healths,  or  sentiments;  and  then  retired 
into  his  study. 

I  was  no  sooner  entered,  than  I  observed  a 
coat  of  arms  in  a  gilt  frame  writh  the  name  of 
John  Bertram.  The  novelty  of  such  a  decora 
tion,  in  such  a  place,  struck  me;  I  could  not 
avoid  asking,  Does  the  society  of  Friends  take 
any  pride  in  those  armorial  bearings,  which 
sometimes  serve  as  marks  of  distinction  be 
tween  families,  and  much  oftener  as  food  for 
pride  and  ostentation?  "Thee  must  know 
"  (said  he)  that  my  father  was  a  French  man, 
"  he  brought  this  piece  of  painting  over  with 
"  him;  I  keep  it  as  a  piece  of  family  furniture, 
"  and  as  a  memorial  of  his  removal  hither." 
From  his  study  we  went  into  the  garden,  which 
contained  a  great  variety  of  curious  plants  and 
shrubs;  some  grew  in  a  green-house,  over  the 
door  of  which  were  written  these  lines, 

"  Slave  to  no  sect,  who  takes  no  private  road, 
"  But   looks   through   nature,    up   to   nature's 
God!" 

He  informed  me  that  he  had  often  followed 

General 


266     VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 

General  Bouquet  to  Pittsburgh,  with  the  view 
of  herbalising;  that  he  had  made  useful  col 
lections  in  Virginia,  and  that  he  had  been  em 
ployed  by  the  king  of  England  to  visit  the  two 
Floridas. 

Our  walks  and  botanical  observations  en 
grossed  so  much  of  our  time,  that  the  sun  was 
almost  down  ere  I  thought  of  returning  to 
Philadelphia ;  I  regretted  that  the  day  had  been 
so  short,  as  I  had  not  spent  so  rational  a  one 
for  a  long  time  before.  I  wanted  to  stay,  yet 
was  doubtful  whether  it  would  not  appear  im 
proper,  being  an  utter  stranger.  Knowing 
however,  that  I  was  visiting  the  least  ceremoni 
ous  people  in  the  world,  I  bluntly  informed 
him  of  the  pleasure  I  had  enjoyed,  and  with  the 
desire  I  had  of  staying  a  few  days  with  him. 
"  Thee  art  as  welcome  as  if  I  was  thy  father; 
"  thee  art  no  stranger;  thy  desire  of  knowledge, 
"  thy  being  a  foreigner  besides,  entitleth  thee 
"  to  consider  my  house  as  thine  own,  as  long 
"  as  thee  pleaseth:  use  thy  time  with  the  most 
"perfect  freedom;  I  too  shall  do  so  myself." 
I  thankfully  accepted  the  kind  invitation. 

We  went  to  view  his  favourite  bank;  he 
shewed  me  the  principles  and  method  on  which 
it  was  erected;  and  we  walked  over  the  grounds 
which  had  been  already  drained.  The  whole 
store  of  nature's  kind  luxuriance  seemed  to 

have 


THE  BOTANIST.  267 

have  been  exhausted  on  these  beautiful 
meadows;  he  made  me  count  the  amazing  num 
ber  of  cattle  and  horses  now  feeding  on  solid 
bottoms,  which  but  a  few  years  before  had  been 
covered  with  water.  Thence  we  rambled 
through  his  fields,  where  the  right-angular 
fences,  the  heaps  of  pitched  stones,  the  flourish 
ing  clover,  announced  the  best  husbandry,  as 
well  as  the  most  assiduous  attention.  His  cows 
were  then  returning  home,  deep  bellied,  short 
legged,  having  udders  ready  to  burst;  seeking 
with  seeming  toil,  to  be  delivered  from  the 
great  exuberance  they  contained:  he  next 
shewed  me  his  orchard,  formerly  planted  on  a 
barren  sandy  soil,  but  long  since  converted  into 
one  of  the  richest  spots  in  that  vicinage. 

4  This  (said  he)  is  altogether  the  fruit  of 
"  my  own  contrivance ;  I  purchased  some  years 
"  ago  the  privilege  of  a  small  spring,  about  a 
"  mile  and  a  half  from  hence,  which  at  a  con- 
"  siderable  expence  I  have  brought  to  this  res- 
"  ervoir;  therein  I  throw  old  lime,  ashes,  horse- 
"  dung,  &c.  and  twice  a  week  I  let  it  run,  thus 
"impregnated;  I  regularly  spread  on  this 
"  ground  in  the  fall,  old  hay,  straw,  and  what- 
"  ever  damaged  fodder  I  have  about  my  barn. 
"  By  these  simple  means  I  mow,  one  year  with 
"  another,  fifty-three  hundreds  of  excellent  hay 
"  per  acre,  from  a  soil,  which  scarcely  produced 

"  five-fingers 


268     VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 

"  five-fingers  [#  small  plant  resembling  straw- 
"  berries]  some  years  before."  This  is,  Sir,  a 
miracle  in  husbandry ;  happy  the  country  which 
is  cultivated  by  a  society  of  men,  whose  appli 
cation  and  taste  lead  them  to  prosecute  and  ac 
complish  useful  works.  "I  am  not  the  only  per- 
"  son  who  do  these  things  (he  said)  wherever 
"  water  can  be  had  it  is  always  turned  to  that 
"  important  use ;  wherever  a  farmer  can  water 
"  his  meadows,  the  greatest  crops  of  the  best 
"  hay  and  excellent  after-grass,  are  the  sure 
"  rewards  of  his  labours.  With  the  banks  of 
"  my  meadow  ditches,  I  have  greatly  enriched 
"  my  upland  fields,  those  which  I  intend  to  rest 
"  for  a  few  years,  I  constantly  sow  with  red 
"  clover,  which  is  the  greatest  meliorator  of  our 
"  lands.  For  three  years  after,  they  yield  abun- 
"  dant  pasture ;  when  I  want  to  break  up  my 
"  clover  fields,  I  give  them  a  good  coat  of  mud, 
"  which  hath  been  exposed  to  the  severities  of 
"  three  or  four  of  our  winters.  This  is  the  rea- 
"  son  that  I  commonly  reap  from  twenty-eight 
"  to  thirty-six  bushels  of  wheat  an  acre;  my 
"  flax,  oats,  and  Indian  corn,  I  raise  in  the  same 
"  proportion.  Wouldst  thee  inform  me  whether 
"  the  inhabitants  of  thy  country  follow  the 
"same  methods  of  husbandry?"  No,  Sir;  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  our  towns,  there  are  in 
deed  some  intelligent  farmers,  who  prosecute 

their 


THE  BOTANIST.  269 

their  rural  schemes  with  attention;  but  we 
should  be  too  numerous,  too  happy,  too  power 
ful  a  people,  if  it  were  possible  for  the  whole 
Russian  Empire  to  be  cultivated  like  the  prov 
ince  of  Pennsylvania.  Our  lands  are  so  un 
equally  divided,  and  so  few  of  our  farmers  are 
possessors  of  the  soil  they  till,  that  they  cannot 
execute  plans  of  husbandry  with  the  same  vigor 
as  you  do,  who  hold  yours,  as  it  were  from  the 
Master  of  nature,  unincumbered  and  free.  Oh, 
America !  exclaimed  I,  thou  knowest  not  as  yet 
the  whole  extent  of  thy  happiness:  the  founda 
tion  of  thy  civil  polity  must  lead  thee  in  a  few 
years  to  a  degree  of  population  and  power 
which  Europe  little  thinks  of!  "Long  before 
"  this  happen  (answered  the  good  man)  we 
"shall  rest  beneath  the  turf;  it  is  vain  for 
"  mortals  to  be  presumptuous  in  their  conject- 
"  ures :  our  country,  is,  no  doubt,  the  cradle  of 
"  an  extensive  future  population;  the  old  world 
"  is  growing  weary  of  its  inhabitants,  they 
"  must  come  here  to  flee  from  the  tyranny  of 
"  the  great.  But  doth  not  thee  imagine,  that 
"  the  great  will,  in  the  course  of  years,  come 
"  over  here  also;  for  it  is  the  misfortune  of  all 
"  societies  every  where  to  hear  of  great  men, 
"  great  rulers,  and  of  great  tyrants."  My  dear 
Sir,  I  replied,  tyranny  never  can  take  a  strong 
hold  in  this  country,  the  land  is  too  widely  dis 
tributed  : 


27o     VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 

tributed:  it  is  poverty  in  Europe  that  makes 
slaves.  "Friend  Iwan,  as  I  make  no  doubt  that 
"  thee  understandest  the  Latin  tongue,  read 
"  this  kind  epistle  which  the  good  Queen  of 
"  Sweden,  Ulrica,  sent  me  a  few  years  ago. 
"  Good  woman !  that  she  should  think  in  her 
"  palace  at  Stockholm  of  poor  John  Bertram, 
"  on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill;  appeareth  to 
"  me  very  strange."  Not  in  the  least,  dear  Sir; 
you  are  the  first  man  whose  name  as  a  botanist 
hath  done  honour  to  America;  it  is  very  nat 
ural  at  the  same  time  to  imagine,  that  so  ex 
tensive  a  continent  must  contain  many  curious 
plants  and  trees:  is  it  then  surprising  to  see  a 
princess,  fond  of  useful  knowledge,  descend 
sometimes  from  the  throne,  to  walk  in  the 
gardens  of  Linnaeus?  "  'Tis  to  the  directions 
"  of  that  learned  man  (said  Mr.  Bertram)  that 
"  I  am  indebted  for  the  method  which  has  led 
"me  to  the  knowledge  I  now  possess;  the 
"  science  of  botany  is  so  diffusive,  that  a  proper 
"  thread  is  absolutely  wanted  to  conduct  the  be- 
"  ginner."  Pray,  Mr.  Bertram,  when  did  you 
imbibe  the  first  wish  to  cultivate  the  science  of 
botany;  was  you  regularly  bred  to  it  in  Phila 
delphia?  "I  have  never  received  any  other  edu- 
"  cation  than  barely  reading  and  writing;  this 
"  small  farm  was  all  the  patrimony  my  father 
"  left  me,  certain  debts  and  the  want  of 

"  meadows 


THE  BOTANIST.  271 

"  meadows  kept  me  rather  low  in  the  begin- 
"  ning  of  my  life;  my  wife  brought  me  nothing 
"  in  money,  all  her  riches  consisted  in  her  good 
"  temper  and  great  knowledge  of  housewifery. 
"  I  scarcely  know  how  to  trace  my  steps  in  the 
"  botanical  career;  they  appear  to  me  now  like 
"  unto  a  dream :  but  thee  mayest  rely  on  what  I 
"  shall  relate,  though  I  know  that  some  of  our 
"  friends  have  laughed  at  it."  I  am  not  one  of 
those  people,  Mr.  Bertram,  who  aim  at  finding 
out  the  ridiculous  in  what  is  sincerely  and  hon 
estly  averred.  "Well,  then,  I'll  tell  thee:  One 
"  day  I  was  very  busy  in  holding  my  plough 
"  (for  thee  seest  that  I  am  but  a  ploughman) 
"  and  being  weary  I  ran  under  the  shade  of  a 
"  tree  to  repose  myself.  I  cast  my  eyes  on  a 
"  daisy,  I  plucked  it  mechanically  and  viewed  it 
"  with  more  curiosity  than  common  country 
"  farmers  are  wont  to  do;  and  observed  therein 
"  very  many  distinct  parts,  some  perpendicular, 
"  some  horizontal.  What  a  shame,  said  my 
"  mind,  or  som thing  that  inspired  my  mind, 
"  that  thee  shouldest  have  employed  so  many 
"  years  in  tilling  the  earth  and  destroying  so 
"  many  flowers  and  plants,  without  being  ac- 
"  quainted  with  their  structures  and  their  uses! 
"  This  seeming  inspiration  suddenly  awakened 
"  my  curiosity,  for  these  were  not  thoughts  to 
"  which  I  had  been  accustomed.  I  returned  to 

"my 


272      VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 

"  my  team,  but  this  new  desire  did  not  quit  my 
"  mind;  I  mentioned  it  to  my  wife,  who  greatly 
"  discouraged  me  from  prosecuting  my  new 
"scheme,  as  she  called  it;  I  was  not  opulent 
"  enough,  she  said,  to  dedicate  much  of  my  time 
"  to  studies  and  labours  which  might  rob  me  of 
"  that  portion  of  it  which  is  the  only  wealth  of 
"  the  American  farmer.  However  her  prudent 
"caution  did  not  discourage  me;  I  thought 
"  about  it  continually,  at  supper,  in  bed,  and 
"  wherever  I  went.  At  last  I  could  not  resist 
"the  impulse;  for  on  the  fourth  day  of  the 
"  following  week,  I  hired  a  man  to  plough  for 
"  me,  and  went  to  Philadelphia.  Though  I 
"  knew  not  what  book  to  call  for,  I  ingeniously 
"  told  the  bookseller  my  errand,  who  provided 
"  me  with  such  as  he  thought  best,  and  a  Latin 
"  grammar  beside.  Next  I  applied  to  a  neigh- 
"  bouring  schoolmaster,  who  in  three  months 
"  taught  me  Latin  enough  to  understand  Lin- 
"  naeus,  which  I  purchased  afterward.  Then 
"  I  began  to  botanize  all  over  my  farm;  in  a 
"  little  time  I  became  acquainted  with  every 
"vegetable  that  grew  in  my  neighbourhood; 
"  and  next  ventured  into  Maryland,  living 
"  among  the  Friends :  in  proportion  as  I 
"  thought  myself  more  learned  I  proceeded 
"  farther,  and  by  a  steady  application  of  sev- 
"  eral  years  I  have  acquired  a  pretty  general 

"  knowledge 


THE  BOTANIST.  273 

44  knowledge  of  every  plant  and  tree  to  be 
"  found  in  our  continent.  In  process  of  time 
u  I  was  applied  to  from  the  old  countries, 
"  whither  I  every  year  send  many  collections. 
"  Being  now  made  easy  in  my  circumstances,  I 
"  have  ceased  to  labour,  and  am  never  so  happy 
"  as  when  I  see  and  converse  with  my  friends. 
"If  among  the  many  plants  or  shrubs  I  am 
"  acquainted  with,  there  are  any  thee  wantest 
"  to  send  to  thy  native  country,  I  will  chear- 
"  fully  procure  them,  and  give  thee  moreover 
"  whatever  directions  thee  mayest  want." 

Thus  I  passed  several  days  in  ease,  improve 
ment,  and  pleasure ;  I  observed  in  all  the  opera 
tions  of  his  farm,  as  well  as  in  the  mutual  cor 
respondence  between  the  master  and  the  in 
ferior  members  of  his  family,  the  greatest  ease 
and  decorum ;  not  a  word  like  command  seemed 
to  exceed  the  tone  of  a  simple  wish.  The  very 
negroes  themselves  appeared  to  partake  of  such 
a  decency  of  behaviour,  and  modesty  of  coun 
tenance,  as  I  had  never  before  observed.  By 
what  means,  said  I,  Mr.  Bertram,  do  you  rule 
your  slaves  so  well,  that  they  seem  to  do  their 
work  with  all  the  chearfulness  of  white  men? 
"  Though  our  erroneous  prejudices  and  opin- 
"  ions  once  induced  us  to  look  upon  them  as  fit 
"  only  for  slavery,  though  ancient  custom  had 
44  very  unfortunately  taught  us  to  keep  them  in 

44  bondage; 


274     VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 

"bondage;  yet  of  late,  in  consequence  of  the 
"  remonstrances  of  several  Friends,  and  of  the 
"  good  books  they  have  published  on  that  sub- 
"  ject,  our  society  treats  them  very  differently. 
l<  With  us  they  are  now  free.  I  give  those 
"  whom  thee  didst  see  at  my  table,  eighteen 
"  pounds  a  year,  with  victuals  and  clothes,  and 
"  all  other  privileges  which  white  men  enjoy. 
"  Our  society  treats  them  now  as  the  com- 
"  panions  of  our  labours;  and  by  this  manage- 
"  ment,  as  well  as  by  means  of  the  education 
"  we  have  given  them,  they  are  in  general  be- 
"  come  a  new  set  of  beings.  Those  whom  I  ad- 
"  mit  to  my  table,  I  have  found  to  be  good, 
"  trusty,  moral  men;  when  they  do  not  what  we 
"  think  they  should  do,  we  dismiss  them,  which 
"  is  all  the  punishment  we  inflict.  Other  so- 
"  cieties  of  Christians  keep  them  still  as  slaves, 
"  without  teaching  them  any  kind  of  religious 
"  principles :  what  motive  beside  fear  can  they 
"  have  to  behave  well?  In  the  first  settlement 
"  of  this  province,  we  employed  them  as  slaves, 
;<  I  acknowledge;  but  when  we  found  that  good 
"  example,  gentle  admonition,  and  religious 
u  principles  could  lead  them  to  subordination 
"  and  sobriety,  we  relinquished  a  method  so 
"  contrary  to  the  profession  of  Christianity. 
14  We  gave  them  freedom,  and  yet  few  have 
"  quitted  their  ancient  masters.  The  women 

"  breed 


THE  BOTANIST.  275 

"breed  in  our  families;  and  we  become  at- 
"  tached  to  one  another.  I  taught  mine  to 
"  read  and  write;  they  love  God,  and  fear  his 
"  judgements.  The  oldest  person  among  them 
"  transacts  my  business  in  Philadelphia,  with  a 
"  punctuality,  from  which  he  has  never  devi- 
"  ated.  They  constantly  attend  our  meetings, 
"  they  participate  in  health  and  sickness,  in- 
"  fancy  and  old  age,  in  the  advantages  our  so- 
"  ciety  affords.  Such  are  the  means  we  have 
"  made  use  of,  to  relieve  them  from  that  bond- 
"  age  and  ignorance  in  which  they  were  kept 
"  before.  Thee  perhaps  hast  been  surprised  to 
"  see  them  at  my  table,  but  by  elevating  them 
"  to  the  rank  of  freemen,  they  necessarily  ac- 
"  quire  that  emulation  without  which  we  our- 
'*  selves  should  fall  into  debasement  and 
"  profligate  ways."  Mr.  Bertram,  this  is  the 
most  philosophical  treatment  of  negroes  that 
I  have  heard  of ;  happy  would  it  be  for  America 
would  other  denominations  of  Christians  im 
bibe  the  same  principles,  and  follow  the  same 
admirable  rules.  A  great  number  of  men 
would  be  relieved  from  those  cruel  shackles, 
under  which  they  now  groan;  and  under  this 
impression,  I  cannot  endure  to  spend  more  time 
in  the  southern  provinces.  The  method  with 
which  they  are  treated  there,  the  meanness  of 
their  food,  the  severity  of  their  tasks,  are  spec 
tacles 


276     VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 

tacles  I  have  not  patience  to  behold.  "I  am 
"  glad  to  see  that  thee  hast  so  much  compas- 
"sion;  are  there  any  slaves  in  thy  country?" 
Yes,  unfortunately,  but  they  are  more  properly 
>s-eivil  than  domestic  slaves ;  they  are  attached  to 
the  soil  on  which  they  live ;  it  is  the  remains  of 
ancient  barbarous  customs,  established  in  the 
days  of  the  greatest  ignorance  and  savageness 
of  manners !  and  preserved  notwithstanding  the 
repeated  tears  of  humanity,  the  loud  calls  of 
policy,  and  the  commands  of  religion.  The 
pride  of  great  men,  with  the  avarice  of  land 
holders,  make  them  look  on  this  class  as  neces 
sary  tools  of  husbandry;  as  if  freemen  could 
not  cultivate  the  ground.  "And  is  it  really  so, 
"  Friend  Iwan?  To  be  poor,  to  be  wretched, 
"  to  be  a  slave,  are  hard  indeed;  existence  is 
"  not  worth  enjoying  on  those  terms.  I  am 
"  afraid  thy  country  can  never  flourish  under 
"  such  impolitic  government."  I  am  very  much 
of  your  opinion  Mr.  Bertram,  though  I  am  in 
hopes  that  the  present  reign,  illustrious  by  so 
many  acts  of  the  soundest  policy,  will  not  expire 
without  this  salutary,  this  necessary  emancipa 
tion  ;  which  would  fill  the  Russian  empire  with 
tears  of  gratitude.  uHow  long  hast  thee  been 
"  in  this  country?"  Four  years,  Sir.  "Why 
"thee  speakest  English  almost  like  a  native; 
"  what  a  toil  a  traveller  must  undergo  to  learn 


"  various 


THE  BOTANIST.  277 

"  various  languages,  to  divest  himself  of  his 
"  native  prejudices,  and  to  accommodate  him- 
"  self  to  the  customs  of  all  those  among  whom 
"  he  chuseth  to  reside." 

Thus  I  spent  my  time  with  this  enlightened 
botanist — this  worthy  citizen;  who  united  all 
the  simplicity  of  rustic  manners  to  the  most  use 
ful  learning.  Various  and  extensive  were  the 
conversations  that  filled  the  measure  of  my 
visit.  I  accompanied  him  to  his  fields,  to  his 
barn,  to  his  bank,  to  his  garden,  to  his  study, 
and  at  last  to  the  meeting  of  the  society  on  the 
Sunday  following.  It  was  at  the  town  of  Ches 
ter,  whither  the  whole  family  went  in  two  wag 
gons;  Mr.  Bertram  and  I  on  horse  back.  When 
I  entered  the  house  where  the  friends  were  as 
sembled,  who  might  be  about  two  hundred  men 
and  women,  the  involuntary  impulse  of  ancient 
custom  made  me  pull  off  my  hat;  but  soon  re 
covering  myself,  I  sat  with  it  on,  at  the  end  of 
a  bench.  The  meeting-house  was  a  square 
building  devoid  of  any  ornament  whatever; 
the  whiteness  of  the  walls,  the  conveniency  of 
seats,  that  of  a  large  stove,  which  in  cold 
weather  keeps  the  whole  house  warm,  were  the 
only  essential  things  which  I  observed.  Neither 
pulpit  nor  desk,  fount  nor  altar,  tabernacle  nor 
organ,  were  there  to  be  seen;  it  is  merely  a 
spacious  room,  in  which  these  good  people  meet 

every 


278     VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM, 

every  Sunday.  A  profound  silence  ensued, 
which  lasted  about  half  an  hour;  every  one  had 
his  head  reclined,  and  seemed  absorbed  in  pro 
found  meditation,  when  a  female  friend  arose, 
and  declared  with  a  most  engaging  modesty, 
that  the  spirit  moved  her  to  entertain  them  on 
the  subject,  she  had  chosen.  She  treated  it  with 
great  propriety,  as  a  moral  useful  discourse, 
and  delivered  it  without  theological  parade 
or  the  ostentation  of  learning.  Either  she  must 
have  been  a  great  adept  in  public  speaking,  or 
had  studiously  prepared  herself;  a  circumstance 
that  cannot  well  be  supposed,  as  it  is  a  point,  in 
their  profession,  to  utter  nothing  but  what 
arises  from  spontaneous  impulse:  or  else  the 
great  spirit  of  the  world,  the  patronage  and 
influence  of  which  they  all  came  to  invoke,  must 
have  inspired  her  with  the  soundest  morality. 
Her  discourse  lasted  three  quarters  of  an  hour. 
I  did  not  observe  one  single  face  turned  toward 
her;  never  before  had  I  seen  a  congregation 
listening  with  so  much  attention  to  a  public 
oration.  I  observed  neither  contortions  of 
body,  nor  any  kind  of  affectation  in  her  face, 
stile,  or  manner  of  utterance;  every  thing  was 
natural,  and  therefore  pleasing,  and  shall  I  tell 
you  more,  she  was  very  handsome,  although 
upward  of  forty.  As  soon  as  she  had  finished, 
every  one  seemed  to  return  to  their  former 

meditation 


THE  BOTANIST.  279 

meditation  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour; 
when  they  rose  up  by  common  consent,  and 
after  some  general  conversation,  departed. 

How  simple  their  precepts,  how  unadorned 
their  religious  system :  how  few  the  ceremonies 
through  which  they  pass  during  the  course  of 
their  lives!  At  their  deaths  they  are  interred 
by  the  fraternity,  without  pomp,  without  pray 
ers  ;  thinking  it  then  too  late  to  alter  the  course 
of  God's  eternal  decrees :  and  as  you  well  know, 
without  either  monument  nor  tomb-stone. 
Thus  after  having  lived  under  the  mildest  gov 
ernment,  after  having  been  guided  by  the  mild 
est  doctrine,  they  die  just  as  peaceably  as  those 
who  being  educated  in  more  pompous  religions, 
pass  through  a  variety  of  sacraments,  subscribe 
to  complicated  creeds,  and  enjoy  the  benefits  of 
a  church  establishment.  These  good  people 
flatter  themselves,  with  following  the  doctrines 
of  Jesus  Christ,  in  that  simplicity  with  which 
they  were  delivered:  an  happier  system  could 
not  have  been  devised  for  the  use  of  mankind. 
It  appears  to  be  entirely  free  from  those  orna 
ments  and  political  additions  which  each  coun 
try  and  each  government,  hath  fashioned  after 
its  own  manners. 

At  the  door  of  this  meeting  house,  I  had  been 
invited  to  spend  some  days  at  the  houses  of 
some  respectable  farmers  in  the  neighbour 
hood 


280    VISIT  TO  MR.  BERTRAM,  &c. 

hood.  The  reception  I  met  with  every  where 
insensibly  led  me  to  spend  two  months  among 
these  good  people;  and  I  must  say  they  were 
the  golden  days  of  my  riper  years.  I  never 
shall  forget  the  gratitude  I  owe  them  for  the 
innumerable  kindnesses  they  heaped  on  me;  it 
was  to  the  letter  you  gave  me  that  I  am  in 
debted  for  the  extensive  acquaintance  I  now 
have  throughout  Pennsylvania.  I  must  defer 
thanking  you  as  I  ought,  until  I  see  you  again. 
Before  that  time  comes,  I  may  perhaps  enter 
tain  you  with  more  curious  anecdotes  than  this 
letter  affords.  Farewell. 


LETTER 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  281 

LETTER    XII. 

DISTRESSES  OF  A  FRONTIER  MAN. 

I  WISH  for  a  change  of  place ;  the  hour  is 
come  at  last,  that  1  must  Hy  from  my 
house  and  abandon  my  farm !  But  what 
.coursejhall  I  steer,  inclosed  as  I  am?  The  cli- 
mate  best  adapted  to  my  present  situation  and 
humour  would  be  the  polar  regions,  where  six 
months  day  and  six  months  night  divide  the 
dull  year :  nay,  a  simple  Aurora  Borealis  would 
suffice  me,  and  greatly  refresh  my  eyes, 
fatigued  now  by  so  many  disagreeable  objects. 
The  severity  of  those  climates,  that  great 
gloom,  where  melancholy  dwells,  would  be  per 
fectly  analagous  to  the  turn  of  my  mind.  Oh, 
could  I  remove  my  plantation  to  the  shores  of 
the  Oby,  willingly  would  I  dwell  in  the  hut  of 
a  Samoyede ;  with  chearfulness  would  I  go  and 
bury  myself  in  the  cavern  of  a  Laplander. 
Could  I  but  carry  my  family  along  with  me,  I 
would  winter  at  Pello,  or  Tobolsky,  in  order 
to  enjoy  the  peace  and  innocence  of  that  coun 
try.  But  let  me  arrive  under  the  pole,  or  reach 
the  antipodes,  I  never  can  leave  behind  me  the 

remembrance 


J 


282  DISTRESSES  OF 

remembrance  of  the  dreadful  scenes  to  which  I 
have  been  a  witness;  therefore  never  can  I  be 
ha]2Ey!  Happy,  why  would  I  mention  that 
sweet,  that  enchanting  word?  Qnce  happiness 
was  our  portion;  now  it  is  gone  from  us,  and 
I_am  ajraid  not  to  be  enjoyed  again  by  the 
present  generation!  Which  ever  way  1  look, 
nothing  "but  the  most  frightful  precipices  pre 
sent  themselves  to  my  view,  in  which  hundreds 
of  my  friends  and  acquaintances  have  already 
perished:  of  all  animals  that  live  on  the  sur 
face  of  this  planet,  what  is  man  when  no  longer 
{^connected  with  society;  or  when  he  finds  him 
self  surrounded  by  a  convulsed  and  a  half  dis 
solved  one?  He  cannot  live  in  solitude,  he 
\v  V  yinsf  belong  t°  sornf*  ro^^^nity  bound  hy_SJ?mf 

ties,  however  imperfect.  Men  mutually  sup- 
porTand  add  to  the  boldness  and  confidence  of 
each  other;  the  weakness  of  each  is  strength 
ened  by  the  force  of  the  whole.  I  had  never 
before  these  calamitous  times  formed  any  such 
ideas;  I  lived  on,  laboured  and  prospered,  with 
out  having  ever  studied  on  what  the  security  of 
my  life,  and  the  foundation  of  my  prosperity 
were  established :  I  perceived  them  just  as  they 
left  me.  Never  was  a  situation  so  singularly 
terrible  as  mine,  in  every  possible  respect,  as  a 
member  of  an  extensive  society,  as  a  citizen  of 
an  inferior  division  of  the  same  society,  as  a 

husband, 


A  FRONTIER  MAN. 


283 


husband,  as  a  father,  as  a  man  who  exquisitely 
feels  for  the  miseries  of  others  as  well  as  for  his 
own !  But  alas !  so  much  is  every  thing  now 
subverted  among  us,  that  the  very  word  misery, 
with  which  we  were  hardly  acquainted  before, 
no  longer  conveys  the  same  ideas;  or  rather 
tired  with  feeling  for  the  miseries  of  others, 
every  one  feels  now  for  himself  alone.  When 
I  consider  myself  as  connected  in  all  these  char 
acters,  as  bound  by  so  many  cords,  all  uniting  in 
my  heart,  I  am  seised  with  a  fever  of  the  mind, 
I  am  transported  beyond  that  degree  of  calm 
ness  which  is  necessary  to  delineate  our 
thoughts.  I  feel  as  if  my  reason  wanted  to 
leave  me,  as  if  it  would  burst  its  poor  weak 
tenement:  a^ain  I  try  to  compose  myself,  I 
grow  cool,  and  preconceiving  the  dreadful  loss, 
I  endeavour  to  retain  the  useful  guest. 

You  know  the  position  of  our  settlement;  I 
need  not  therefore  describe  it.  To  the  west  it  is 
inclosed  by  a  chain  of  mountains,  reaching  to 

;  to  the  east,  the  country  is  as  yet  but 

thinly  inhabited;  we  are  almost  insulated,  and 
the  houses  are  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
each  other.  From  the  mountains  we  have  but 
too  mwdrreason  to  expect  our  dreadful  enemy; 
the(wilderne>fr  is  a  harbour  whfre  it  ifi  impns- 
sible^trrfmd  theTfT  It  is  a  door  through  whicji 
they  can  enter  our  country  whenever  they 

please ; 


284  DISTRESSES  OF 

please ;  and,  as  they  seem  determined  to  destroy 
the  whole  chain  of  frontiers,  our  fate  cannot  be 
far  distant:  from  Lake  Champlain,  almost  all 
has  been  conflagrated  one  after  another.  What 
renders  these  incursions  still  more  terrible  is, 
that  they  most  commonly  take  place  in  the  dead 
of  the  night;  we  never  go  to  our  fields  but  we 
are  seised  with  an  involuntary  fear,  which  les 
sens  our  strength  and  weakens  our  labour.  No 
other  subject  of  conversation  intervenes  be 
tween  the  different  accounts,  which  spread 
through  the  country,  of  successive  acts  of  devas 
tation  ;  and  these  told  in  chimney-corners,  swell 
themselves  in  our  affrighted  imaginations  into 
the  most  terrific  ideas!  We  never  sit  down 
either  to  dinner  or  supper,  but  the  least  noise 
immediately  spreads  a  general  alarm  and  pre 
vents  us  from  enjoying  the  comfort  of  our 
meals.  The  very  appetite  proceeding  from 
labour  and  peace  of  mind  is  gone;  we  eat  just 
enough  to  keep  up  alive :  our  sleep  is  disturbed 
by  the  most  frightful  dreams;  sometimes  I 
start  awake,  as  if  the  great  hour  of  danger  was 
come;  at  other  times  the  howling  of  our  dogs 
seems  to  announce  the  arrival  of  the  enemy :  we 
leap  out  of  bed  and  run  to  arms;  my  poor  wife 
with  panting  bosom  and  silent  tears,  takes  leave 
of  me,  as  if  we  were  to  see  each  other  no  more; 
she  snatches  the  youngest  children  from  theif 

beds, 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  285 

beds,  who,  suddenly  awakened,  increase  by  their 
innocent  questions  the  horror  of  the  dreadful 
moment.  She  tries  to  hide  them  in  the  cellar, 
as  if  our  cellar  was  inaccessible  to  the  fire.  I 
place  all  my  servants  at  the  windows,  and  my 
self  at  the  door,  where  I  am  determined  to 
perish.  Fear  industriously  encreases  every 
sound;  we  all  listen;  each  communicates  to  the 
other  his  ideas  and  conjectures.  We  remain 
thus  sometimes  for  whole  hours,  our  hearts  and 
our  minds  racked  by  the  most  anxious  suspense : 
what  a  dreadful  situation,  a  thousand  times 
worse  than  that  of  a  soldier  engaged  in  the 
midst  of  the  most  severe  conflict!  Sometimes 
feeling  the  spontaneous  courage  of  a  man,  I 
seem  to  wish  for  the  decisive  minute;  the  next 
instant  a  message  from  my  wife,  sent  by  one 
of  the  children,  puzzling  me  beside  with  their 
little  questions,  unmans  me :  away  goes  my 
courage,  and  I  descend  again  into  the  deepest 
despondency.  At  last  finding  that  it  was  a  false 
alarm,  we  return  once  more  to  our  beds;  but 
what  good  can  the  kind  sleep  of  nature  do  to  us 
when  interrupted  by  such  scenes!  Securely 
placed  as  you  are,  you  can  have  no  idea  of  our 
agitations,  but  by  hear-say;  no  relation  can  be 
equal  to  what  we  suffer  and  to  what  we  feel. 
Every  morning  my  youngest  children  are  sure 
to  have  frightful  dreams  to  relate :  in  vain  I 

exert 


286  DISTRESSES  OF 

exert  my  authority  to  keep  them  silent,  it  is  not 
in  my  power;  and  these  images  of  their  dis 
turbed  imagination,  instead  of  being  frivolously 
looked  upon  as  in  the  days  of  our  happiness, 
are  on  the  contrary  considered  as  warnings  and 
sure  prognostics  of  our  future  fate.  I  am  not  a 
superstitious  man,  but  since  our  misfortunes,  I 
am  grown  more  timid,  and  less  disposed  to 
treat  the  doctrine  of  omens  with  contempt. 

Though  these  evils  have  been  gradual,  yet 
they  do  not  become  habitual  like  other  in 
cidental  evils.  The  nearer  I  view  the  end  of 
this  catastrophe,  the  more  I  shudder.  But  why 
should  I  trouble  you  with  such  unconnected  ac 
counts;  men  secure  and  out  of  danger  are  soon 
fatigued  with  mournful  details:  can  you  enter 
with  me  into  fellowship  with  all  these  afflictive 
sensations;  have  you  a  tear  ready  to  shed  over 
the  approaching  ruin  of  a  once  opulent  and 
substantial  family?  Read  this  I  pray  with  the 
eyes  of  sympathy;  with  a  tender  sorrow,  pity 
the  lot  of  those  whom  you  once  called  your 
friends;  who  were  once  surrounded  with  plenty, 
ease,  and  perfect  security;  but  who  now  expect 
every  night  to  be  their  last,  and  who  are  as 
wretched  as  criminals  under  an  impending  sen 
tence  of  the  law. 

As  a  member  of  a  large  society  which  ex 
tends  to  many  parts  of  the  world,  my  connec 
tion 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  287 

tion  with  it  is  too  distant  to  be  as  strong  as  that 
which  binds  me  to  the  inferior  division  in  the 
midst  of  which  I  live.  I  am  told  that  the  great 
nation,  of  which  we  are  a  part,  is  just,  wise, 
and  free,  beyond  any  other  on  earth,  within  its 
own  insular  boundaries;  but  not  always  so  to 
its  distant  conquests:  I  shall  not  repeat  all  I 
have  heard,  because  I  cannot  believe  half  of 
it.  As  a  citizen  of  a  smaller  society,  I  find 
that  any  kind  of  opposition  to  its  now  prevail 
ing  sentiments,  immediately  begets  hatred :  how 
easily  do  men  pass  from  loving,  to  hating  and 
cursing  one  another!  I  am  a  lover  of  peace, 
what  must  I  do  ?  I  am  divided  between  the  v 
respect  I  feel  for  the  ancient  connection,  and 
the  fear  of  innovations,  with  the  consequence 
of  which  I  am  not  well  acquainted;  as  they  are 
embraced  by  my  own  countrymen.  I  am  con-  Q 

scious  that  I  was  happy  before  this  unfortunate  '\ V 

Revolution.     I  feel  that  I  am  no  longer  so;     f      s 
therefore  I  regret  the  change.    This  is  the  only 
mode  of  reasoning  adapted  to  persons  in  my 
situation.     If  I  attach  myself  to  the  Mother  , 
Country,  which  is  3000  miles  from  me,  I  be-  I 
come  what  is  called  an  enemy  to  my  own  re-  I 
gion;  if  I  follow  the  rest  of  my  countrymen,  I  I 
become  opposed  to  our  ancient  masters:  both/ 
extremes  appear  equally  dangerous  to  a  per-/ 
son  of  so  little  weight  and  consequence  as  I  am/ 

whosd 


288  DISTRESSES  OF 

whose  energy  and  example  are  of  no  avail.  As 
to  the  argument  on  which  the  dispute  is  found 
ed,  I  know  little  about  it.  Much  has  been  said 
and  written  on  both  sides,  but  who  has  a  judge 
ment  capacious  and  clear  enough  to  decide? 
The  great  moving  principles  which  actuate 
both  parties  are  much  hid  from  vulgar  eyes, 
like  mine;  nothing  but  the  plausible  and  the 
probable  are  offered  to  our  contemplation.  The 
innocent  class  are  always  the  victim  of  the  few; 
they  are  in  all  countries  and  at  all  times  the  in 
ferior  agents,  on  which  the  popular  phantom  is 
erected;  they  clamour,  and  must  toil,  and  bleed, 
(A  and  are  always  sure  of  meeting  with  oppression 
and  rebuke.  It  is  for  the  sake  of  the  great 
'£*  leaders  on  both  sides,  that  so  much  blood  must 

^  be  spilt;  that  of  the  people  is  counted  as  noth- 

j  ing.  Great  events  are  not  achieved  for  us, 
though  it  is  by  us  that  they  are  principally  ac 
complished;  by  the  arms,  the  sweat,  the  lives  of 
the  people.  Books  tell  me  so  much  that  they 
inform  me  of  nothing.  Sophistry,  the  bane  of 
freemen,  launches  forth  in  all  her  deceiving  at 
tire!  After  all,  most  men  reason  from  pas 
sions;  and  shall  such  an  ignorant  individual  as 
I  am  decide,  and  say  this  side  is  right,  that  side 
is  wrong?  Sentiment  and  feeling  are  the  only 
guides  I  know.  Alas,  how  should  I  unravel  an 
argument,  in  which  reason  herself  hath  given 
>  way 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  289 

way  to  brutality  and  bloodshed!  What  then 
must  I  do  ?  I  ask  the  wisest  lawyers,  the  ablest 
casuists,  the  warmest  patriots ;  for  I  mean  hon 
estly.  Great  Source  of  wisdom!  inspire  me 
with  light  sufficient  to  guide  my  benighted 
steps  out  of  this  intricate  maze!  Shall  I  dis 
card  all  my  ancient  principles,  shall  I  renounce 
that  name,  that  nation  which  I  held  once  so 
respectable?  I  feel  the  powerful  attraction; 
the  sentiments  they  inspired  grew  with  my  ear-  . 
liest  knowledge,  and  were  grafted  upon  the  first  *i 7  y. 
rudiments  of  my  education.  On  the  other  **** 

hand,  shall  I  arm  myself  against  that  country 
where  I  first  drew  breath,  against  the  play 
mates  of  my  youth,  my  bosom  friends,  my  ac 
quaintance? — the  idea  makes  me  shudder! 
Must  I  be  called  a  parricide,  a  traitor,  a  vil 
lain,  lose  the  esteem  of  all  those  whom  I  love, 
to  preserve  my  own;  be  shunned  like  a  rattle 
snake,  or  be  pointed  at  like  a  bear?  I  have 
neither  heroism  nor  magnanimity  enough  to 
make  so  great  a  sacrifice.  Here  I  am  tied,  I  am 
fastened  by  numerous  strings,  nor  do  1  repine 
at  the  pressure  they  cause ;  ignorant  as  I  am,  I 
can  pervade  the  utmost  extent  of  the  calamities 
which  have  already  overtaken  our  poor  afflicted 
country.  I  can  see  the  great  and  accumulated 
ruin  yet  extending  itself  as  far  as  the  theatre  of 
war  has  reached;  I  hear  the  groans  of  thou 
sands 


29o  DISTRESSES  OF 

sands  of  families  now  ruined  and  desolated  by 
our  aggressors.  I  cannot  count  the  multitude 
of  orphans  this  war  has  made ;  nor  ascertain  the 
immensity  of  blood  we  have  lost.  Some  have 
asked,  whether  it  was  a  crime  to  resist ;  to  repel 
some  parts  of  this  evil.  Others  have  asserted, 
that  a  resistance  so  general  makes  pardon  un 
attainable,  and  repentance  useless;  and  divid 
ing  the  crime  among  so  many,  renders  it  imper 
ceptible.  What  one  party  calls  meritorious, 
the  other  denominates  flagitious.  These  opin 
ions  vary,  contract,  or  expand,  like  the  events 
of  the  war  on  which  they  are  founded.  What 
gjp  *can  an  insignificant  man  do  in  the  midst  of  these 
jarring  contradictory  parties,  equally  hostile  to 
persons  situated  as  I  am?  And  after  all  who 
will  be  the  really  guilty? — Those  most  cer 
tainly  who  fail  of  success.  Our  fate,  the  fate 
of  thousands,  is  then  necessarily  involved  in 
the  dark  wheel  of  fortune.  Why  then  so  many 
useless  reasonings;  we  are  the  sport  of  fate. 
Farewell  education,  principles,  love  of  our 
country,  farewell ;  all  are  become  useless  to  the 
generality  of  us :  he  who  governs  himself  ac 
cording  to  what  he  calls  his  principles,  may  be 
punished  either  by  one  party  or  the  other,  for 
those  very  principles.  He  who  proceeds  with 
out  principle,  as  chance,  timidity,  or  self-preser 
vation  directs,  will  not  perhaps  fare  better;  but 

he 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  291 

he  will  be  less  blamed.  What  are  we  in  the 
great  scale  of  events,  we  poor  defenseless  fron 
tier  inhabitants?  What  is  it  to  the  gazing 
world,  whether  we  breathe  or  whether  we  die? 
Whatever  virtue,  whatever  merit  and  disinter 
estedness  we  may  exhibit  in  our  secluded  re- 
treats,  of  what  avail?  We  are  like  the  pismires  e#*f 
destroyed  by  the  plough;  whose  destruction  &) 
prevents  not  the  future  crop.  Self-preserva- 
tion,  therefore,  the  rule  of  nature  seems  to  be  ^p 
the  besr7ute~~6~f "conduct;  what  good  can  we  do 
by  vain  resistance,  by  useless  efforts?  The  cool, 
the  distant  spectator,  placed  in  safety,  may  ar 
raign  me  for  ingratitude,  may  bring  forth  the 
principles  of  Solon  or  Montesquieu;  he  may 
look  on  me  as  wilfully  guilty;  he  may  call  me 
by  the  most  opprobrious  names.  Secure  from 
personal  danger,  his  warm  imagination,  undis 
turbed  by  the  least  agitation  of  the  heart,  will 
expatiate  freely  on  this  grand  question;  and 
will  consider  this  extended  field,  but  as  exhibit 
ing  the  double  scene,  of  attack  and  defence.  To 
him  the  object  becomes  abstracted,  the  inter 
mediate  glares,  the  perspective  distance  and  a 
variety  of  opinions  unimpaired  by  affections, 
presents  to  his  mind  but  one  set  of  ideas.  Here 
he  proclaims  the  high  guilt  of  the  one,  and 
there  the  right  of  the  other;  but  let  him  come 
and  reside  with  us  one  single  month,  Iqt  him 

pass 


292  DISTRESSES  OF 

pass  with  us  through  all  the  successive  hours  of 
necessary  toil,  terror  and  affright,  let  him  watch 
with  us,  his  musket  in  his  hand,  through 
tedious,  sleepless  nights,  his  imagination  fur 
rowed  by  the  keen  chissel  of  every  passion;  let 
his  wife  and  his  children  become  exposed  to  the 
most  dreadful  hazards  of  death;  let  the  exist 
ence  of  his  property  depend  on  a  single  spark, 
blown  by  the  breath  of  an  enemy;  let  him 
tremble  with  us  in  our  fields,  shudder  at  the 
rustling  of  every  leaf;  let  his  heart,  the  seat  of 
the  most  affecting  passions,  be  powerfully 
wrung  by  hearing  the  melancholy  end  of  his  re 
lations  and  friends;  let  him  trace  on  the  map 
the  progress  of  these  desolations;  let  his 
alarmed  imagination  predict  to  him  the  night, 
the  dreadful  night  when  it  may  be  his  turn  to 
perish,  as  so  many  have  perished  before.  Ob 
serve  then,  whether  the  man  will  not  get  the 
bette^rrrf-trre-ekizerj,  whether  his  political  max- 
Jrns  will-noLJ^Jiish!  Yes,  he  will  cease  to 
glow  so  warmly  with  the  glory  of  the  metro 
polis;  all  his  wishe&jHdlL-be*- turned  toward  the 
preservation  of  his  family !  Oh,  were  he  situ 
ated  where  I  am,  were  his  house  perpetually 
filled,  as  mine  is,  with  miserable  victims  just 
escaped  from  the  flames  and  the  scalping  knife, 
telling  of  barbarities  and  murders,  that  make 
human  nature  tremble;  his  situation  would  sus 
pend 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  293 

pend  every  political  reflection,  and  expel  every 
abstract  idea.  My  heart  is  full  and  involun 
tarily  takes  hold  of  any  notion  from  whence 
it  can  receive  ideal  ease  or  relief.  I  am  in 
formed  that  the  king  has  the  most  numerous,  as 
well  as  the  fairest,  progeny  of  children,  of  any 
potentate  now  in  the  world :  he  may  be  a  great 
king,  but  he  must  feel  as  we  common  mortals 
do,  in  the  good  wishes  he  forms  for  their  lives 
and  prosperity.  His  mind  no  doubt  often 
springs  forward  on  the  wings  of  anticipation, 
and  contemplates  us  as  happily  settled  in  the 
world.  If  a  poor  frontier  inhabitant  may  be 
allowed  to  suppose  this  great  personage  the  first 
in  our  system,  to  be  exposed  but  for  one  hour, 
to  the  exquisite  pangs  we  so  often  feel,  would 
not  the  preservation  of  so  numerous  a  family 
engross  all  his  thoughts;  would  not  the  ideas 
of  dominion  and  other  felicities  attendant  on 
royalty,  all  vanish  in  the  hour  of  danger?  The 
regal  character,  however  sacred,  would  be  su 
perseded  by  the  stronger,  because  more  natural 
one  of  man  and  father.  Oh !  did  he  but  know 
the  circumstances  of  this  horrid  war,  I  am  sure 
he  would  put  a  stop  to  that  long  destruction  of 
parents  and  children.  I  am  sure  that  while  he 
turned  his  ears  to  state  policy,  he  would  atten 
tively  listen  also  to  the  dictates  of  nature,  that 
great  parent;  for,  as  a  good  king,  he  no  doubt 

wishes 


294  DISTRESSES  OF 

wishes  to  create,  to  spare,  and  to  protect,  as  she 
does.  Must  I  then,  in  order  to  be  called  a 
faithful  subject,  coolly,  and  philosophically  say, 
it  is  necessary  for  the  good  of  Britain,  that  my 
children's  brains  should  be  dashed  against  the 
walls  of  the  house  in  which  they  were  reared; 
that  my  wife  should  be  stabbed  and  scalped  be 
fore  my  face ;  that  I  should  be  either  murdered 
or  captivated ;  or  that  for  greater  expedition  we 
should  all  be  locked  up  and  burnt  to  ashes  as 

the  family  of  the  B n  was?     Must  I  with 

meekness  wait  for  that  last  pitch  of  desolation, 
and  receive  with  perfect  resignation,  so  hard  a 
fate  from  ruffians,  acting  at  such  a  distance 
from  the  eyes  of  any  superior;  monsters,  left 
to  the  wild  impulses  of  the  wildest  nature. 
Could  the  lions  of  Africa  be  transported  here 
and  let  loose,  they  would  no  doubt  kill  us  in 
order  to  prey  upon  our  carcasses ;  but  their  ap 
petites  would  not  require  so  many  victims. 
Shall  I  wait  to  be  punished  with  death,  or  else 
to  be  stripped  of  all  food  and  raiment,  reduced 
to  despair  without  redress  and  without  hope. 
Shall  those  who  may  escape,  see  every  thing 
they  hold  dear  destroyed  and  gone.  Shall  those 
few  survivors,  lurking  in  some  obscure  corner, 
deplore  in  vain  the  fate  of  their  families,  mourn 
over  parents  either  captivated,  butchered,  or 
burnt;  roam  among  our  wilds,  and  wait  for 

death 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  295 

death  at  the  foot  of  some  tree,  without  a  mur 
mur,  or  without  a  sigh,  for  the  good  of  the 
cause  ?  No,  it  is  impossible !  so  astonishing  a 
sacrifice  is  not  to  be  expected  from  human 
nature,  it  must  belong  to  beings  of  an  inferior 
or  superior  order,  actuated  by  less,  or  by  more 
refined  principles.  Even  those  great  person 
ages  who  are  so  far  elevated  above  the  com 
mon  ranks  of  men,  those,  I  mean,  who  wield 
and  direct  so  many  thunders;  those  who  have 
let  loose  against  us  these  demons  of  war,  could 
they  be  transported  here,  and  metamorphosed 
into  simple  planters  as  we  are,  they,  would, 
from  being  the  arbiters  of  human  destiny,  sink 
into  miserable  victims ;  they  would  feel  and  ex 
claim  as  we  do,  and  be  as  much  at  a  loss  what 
line  of  conduct  to  prosecute.  Do  you  well  com 
prehend  the  difficulties  of  our  situation?  If  we 
stay  we  are  sure  to  perish  at  one  time  or  an 
other;  no  vigilance  on  our  part  can  save  us;  if 
we  retire,  we  know  not  where  to  go;  every 
house  is  filled  with  refugees  as  wretched  as  our 
selves;  and  if  we  remove  we  become  beggars. 
The  property  of  farmers  is  not  like  that  of  mer 
chants;  and  absolute  poverty  is  worse  than 
death.  If  we  take  up  arms  to  ctefenti~curselves, 
we  are  denominated  rebels;  should  we  not  be 
rebels  against  nature,  could  we  be  shamefully 
passive?  Shall  we  then,  like  martyrs,  glory  in 

an 


296  DISTRESSES  OF 

an  allegiance,  now  become  useless,  and  volun 
tarily  expose  ourselves  to  a  species  of  desola 
tion  which  though  it  ruin  us  entirely,  yet  en 
riches  not  our  ancient  masters.  By  this  in 
flexible  and  sullen  attachment,  we  shall  be  de 
spised  by  our  countrymen,  and  destroyed  by  our 
ancient  friends;  whatever  we  may  say,  what 
ever  merit  we  may  claim,  will  not  shelter  us 
from  those  indiscriminate  blows,  given  by  hired 
banditti,  animated  by  all  those  passions  which 
urge  men  to  shed  the  blood  of  others;  how 
bitter  the  thought !  On  the  contrary,  blows  re 
ceived  by  the  hands  of  those  from  whom  we 
expected  protection,  extinguish  ancient  respect, 
and  urge  us  to  self-defence — perhaps  to  re 
venge;  this  is  the  path  which  nature  herself 
points  out,  as  well  to  the  civilized  as  to  the  un 
civilized.  The  Creator  of  hearts  has  himself 
stamped  on  them  those  propensities  at  their  first 
formation ;  and  must  we  then  daily  receive  this 
treatment  from  a  power  once  so  loved?  The 
Fox  flies  or  deceives  the  hounds  that  pursue 
;£*"  him;  the  bear,  when  overtaken,  boldly  resists 
{/  and  attacks  them;  the  hen,  the  very  timid  hen, 
fights  for  the  preservation  of  her  chickens,  nor 
does  she  decline  to  attack,  and  to  meet  on  the 
wing  even  the  swift  kite.  Shall  man,  then,  pro 
vided  both  with  instinct  and  reason,  unmoved, 
unconcerned,  and  passive,  see  his  subsistence 

consumed, 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  297 

consumed,  and  his  progeny  either  ravished 
from  him  or  murdered?  Shall  fictitious  reason 
extinguish  the  unerring  impulse  of  instinct? 
No ;  my  former  respect,  my  former  attachment 
vanishes  with  my  safety;  that  respect  and  at 
tachment  was  purchased  by  protection,  and  it 
has  ceased.  Could  not  the  great  nation  we  be 
long  to,  have  accomplished  her  designs  by 
means  of  her  numerous  armies,  by  means  of 
those  fleets  which  cover  the  ocean  ?  Must  those 
who  are  masters  of  two  thirds  of  the  trade  of 
the  world;  who  have  in  their  hands  the  power 
which  almighty  gold  can  give;  who  possess  a 
species  of  wealth  that  increases  with  their  de 
sires;  must  they  establish  their  conquest  with 
ourjnsignificant  innocent  blood ! 

Must  1  then  bid  farewell  to  Britain,  to  that 
renowned  country?  Must  I  renounce  a  name 
so  ancient  and  so  venerable  ?  Alas,  she  herself, 
that  once  indulgent  parent,  forces  me  to  take  up 
arms  against  her.  She  herself,  first  inspired  the 
most  unhappy  citizens  of  our  remote  districts, 
with  the  thoughts  of  shedding  the  blood  of 
those  whom  they  used  to  call  by  the  name  of 
friends  and  brethren.  That  great  nation  which 
now  convulses  the  world;  which  hardly  knows 
the  extent  of  her  Indian  kingdoms;  which  looks 
toward  the  universal  monarchy  of  trade,  of 
industry,  of  riches,  of  power:  why  must  she 

strew 


298 


DISTRESSES  OF 


Jj 


strew  our  poor  frontiers  with  the  carcasses  of 
her  friends,  with  the  wrecks  of  our  insignificant 
villages,  in  which  there  is  no  gold  ?  When,  op 
pressed  by  painful  recollection,  I  revolve  all 
these  scattered  ideas  in  my  mind,  when  I  con 
template  my  situation,  and  the  thousand 
streams  of  evil  with  which  I  am  surrounded; 
when  I  descend  into  the  particular  tendency 
even  of  the  remedy  I  have  proposed,  I  am  con 
vulsed  —  convulsed  sometimes  to  that  degree, 
as  to  be  tempted  to  exclaim  —  Why  has  the 
master  of  the  world  permitted  so  much  indis 
criminate  evil  throughout  every  part  of  this 
poor  planet,  at  all  times,  and  among  all  kinds 
of  people?  It  ought  surely  to  be  the  punish 
ment  of  the  wicked  only.  I  bring  that  cup  to 
my  lips,  of  which  I  must  soon  taste,  and  shud- 
der  at  its  bitterness.  Whfif  fhpn  js  lifp,  T  ask 

myse]fr    IS    i*    ^     grarif^    gift?       No,    it    is    tOO 


bitter;  a  gift  means  something  valuable  con 
ferred,  but  life  appears  to  be  a  mere  accident, 
and  of  the  worst  kind:  we  are  born  to  be  vic 
tims  of  diseases  and  passions,  of  mischances 
and  death:  better  not  to  be  than  to  be  miser 
able. — Thus  impiously  I  roam,  I  fly  from  one 
erratic  thought  to  another,  and  my  mind,  ir 
ritated  by  these  acrimonious  reflections,  is 
ready  sometimes  to  lead  me  to  dangerous  ex 
tremes  of  violence.  When  I  recollect  that  I 

am 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  299 

am  a  father,  and  a  husband,  the  return  of  these 
endearing  ideas  strikes  deep  into  my  heart. 
Alas !  they  once  made  it  to  glow  with  pleasure 
and  with  every  ravishing  exultation;  but  now 
they  fill  it  with  sorrow.  At  other  times,  my 
wife  industriously  rouses  me  out  of  these  dread 
ful  meditations,  and  soothes  me  by  all  the  rea 
soning  she  is  mistress  of;  but  her  endeavours 
only  serve  to  make  me  more  miserable,  by  re 
flecting  that  she  must  share  with  all  these 
calamities,  the  bare  apprehensions  of  which  I 
am  afraid  will  subvert  her  reason.  Nor  can  I 
with  patience  think  that  a  beloved  wife,  my 
faithful  helpmate,  throughout  all  my  rural 
schemes,  the  principal  hand  which  has  assisted 
me  in  rearing  the  prosperous  fabric  of  ease  and 
independence  I  lately  possessed,  as  well  as  my 
children,  those  tenants  of  my  heart,  should 
daily  and  nightly  be  exposed  to  such  a  cruel 
fate.  Self-preservation  is  above  all  political 
precepts  and  rules,  and  even  superior  to  the 
dearest  opinions  of  our  minds;  a  reasonable  ac 
commodation  of  ourselves  to  the  various  exi 
gencies  of  the  time  in  which  we  live,  is  the  most 
irresistible  precept.  To  this  great  evil  I  must 
seek  some  sort  of  remedy  adapted  to  remove  or 
to  palliate  it;  situated  as  I  am,  what  steps 
should  I  take  that  will  neither  injure  nor  insult 
any  of  the  parties,  and  at  the  same  time  save 

my 


300  DISTRESSES  OF 

my  family  from  that  certain  destruction  which 
awaits  it,  if  I  remain  here  much  longer.  Could 
I  insure  them  bread,  safety,  and  subsistence, 
not  the  bread  of  idleness,  but  that  earned  by 
proper  labour  as  heretofore;  could  this  be  ac 
complished  by  the  sacrifice  of  my  life,  I  would 
willingly  give  it  up.  I  attest  before  heaven, 
that  it  is  only  for  these  I  would  wish  to  live  and 
to  toil :  for  these  whom  I  have  brought  into 
this  miserable  existence.  I  resemble,  methinks, 
one  of  the  stones  of  a  ruined  arch,  still  retain 
ing  that  pristine  form  that  anciently  fitted  the 
place  I  occupied,  but  the  centre  is  tumbled 
down;  I  can  be  nothing  until  I  am  replaced, 
either  in  the  former  circle,  or  in  some  stronger 
one.  I  see  one  on  a  smaller  scale,  and  at  a  con 
siderable  distance,  but  it  is  within  my  power 
to  reach  it :  and  since  I  have  ceased  to  consider 
myself  as  a  member  of  the  ancient  state  now 
convulsed,  I  willingly  descend  into  an  inferior 
one.  I  will  revert  into  a  state  approaching 
nearer  to  that  of  nature,  unincumbered  either 
with  voluminous  laws,  or  contradictory  codes, 
often  galling  the  very  necks,  of  those  whom 
they  protect;  and  at  the  same  time  sufficiently 
remote  from  the  brutality  of  unconnected  sav 
age  nature.  Do  you,  my  friend,  perceive  the 
path  I  have  found  out?  it  is  that  which  leads  to 
the  tenants  of  the  great  village  of 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  301 

-,  where,  far  removed  from  the  accursed 


neighbourhood  of  Europeans,  its  inhabitants 
live  with  more  ease,  decency,  and  peace,  than 
you  imagine:  where,  though  governed  by  no 
laws,  yet  find,  in  uncontaminated  simple  man 
ners  all  that  laws  can  afford.  Their  system  is 
sufficiently  compleat  to  answer  all  the  primary 
wants  of  man,  and  to  constitute  him  a  social 
being,  such  as  he  ought  to  be  in  the  great  for 
est  of  nature.  There  it  is  that  I  have  resolved 
at  any  rate  to  transport  myself  and  family :  an 
eccentric  thought,  you  may  say,  thus  to  cut 
asunder  all  former  connections,  and  to  form 
new  ones  with  a  people  whom  nature  has 
stamped  with  such  different  characteristics ! 
But  as  the  happiness  of  my  family  is  the  only 
object  of  my  wishes,  I  care  very  little  where  we 
be,  or  where  we  go,  provided  that  we  are  safe, 
and  all  united  together.  Our  new  calamities 
being  shared  equally  by  all,  will  become 
lighter;  our  mutual  affection  for  each  other, 
will  in  this  great  transmutation  become  the 
strongest  link  of  our  new  society,  will  afford  us 
every  joy  we  can  receive  on  a  foreign  soil,  and 
preserve  us  in  unity,  as  the  gravity  and  coher 
ency  of  matter  prevents  the  world  from  disso 
lution.  Blame  me  not,  it  would  be  cruel  in 
you,  it  would  beside  be  entirely  useless;  for 
when  you  receive  this  we  shall  be  on  the  wing. 

When 


302  DISTRESSES  OF 

When  we  think  all  hopes  are  gone,  must  we, 
like  poor  pusillanimous  wretches,  despair  and 
die?  No;  I  perceive  before  me  a  few  re 
sources,  though  through  many  dangers,  which 
I  will  explain  to  you  hereafter.  It  is  not,  be 
lieve  me,  a  disappointed  ambition  which  leads 
me  to  take  this  step,  it  is  the  bitterness  of  my 
situation,  it  is  the  impossibility  of  knowing 
what  better  measure  to  adopt:  my  education 
fitted  me  for  nothing  more  than  the  most  sim 
ple  occupations  of  life;  I  am  but  a  feller  of 
trees,  a  cultivator  of  land,  the  most  honourable 
title  an  American  can  have.  I  have  no  ex 
ploits,  no  discoveries,  no  inventions  to  boast 
of;  I  have  cleared  about  370,  acres^  of  land, 
some  for  the  plough,  some  foFthe  scythe;  and 
this  has  occupied  many  years  of  my  life.  I 
have  never  possessed,  or  wish  to  possess  any 
thing  more  than  what  could  be  earned  or  pro 
duced  by  the  united  industry  of  my  family.  I 
wanted  nothing  more  than  to  live  at  home  in 
dependent  and  tranquil,  and  to  teach  my  chil 
dren  how  to  provide  the  means  of  a  future 
ample  subsistence,  founded  on  labour,  like  that 
of  their  father.  This  is  the  career  of  life  I 
have  pursued,  and  that  which  I  had  marked 
out  for  them  and  for  which  they  seemed  to  be 
so  well  calculated  by  their  inclinations,  and  by 
their  constitutions.  But  now  these  pleasing  ex 
pectations 


A  FRONTIER  MAN. 


303 


pectations  are  gone,  we  must  abandon  the  ac 
cumulated  industry  of  nineteen  years,  we  must 
fly  we  hardly  know  whither,  through  the  most 
impervious  paths,  and  become  members  of  a 
new  and  strange  community.  Oh,  virtue !  is  > 
this  all  the  reward  thou  hast  to  confer  on  thy 
votaries?  Either  thou  art  only  a  chimera,  or 
thou  art  a  timid  useless  being;  soon  affrighted, 
when  ambition,  thy  great  adversary,  dictates, 
when  war  re-echoes  the  dreadful  sounds,  and 
poor  helpless  individuals  are  mowed  down  by 
its  cruel  reapers  like  useless  grass.  I  have  at 
all  times  generously  relieved  what  few  dis 
tressed  people  I  have  met  with;  I  have  en 
couraged  the  industrious;  my  house  has  always 
been  opened  to  travellers;  I  have  not  lost  a 
month  in  illness  since  I  have  been  a  man;  I 
have  caused  upwards  of  an  hundred  and  twenty 
families  to  remove  hither.  Manyof  them  I  have 
led  by  the  hand  in  the  days  of  their  first  trial; 
distant  as  I  am  from  any  places  of  worship 
or  school  of  education,  I  have  been  the  pastor 
of  my  family,  and  the  teacher  of  many  of  my 
neighbours.  I  have  learnt  them  as  well  as  I 
could,  the  gratitude  they  owe  to  God,  the 
father  of  harvests;  and  their  duties  to  man:  I 
have  been  as  useful  a  subject;  ever  obedient  toj 
the  laws,  ever  vigilant  to  see  them  respected: 
and  observed.  My  wife  hath  faithfully  fol 
lowed 


V 

rtOr 


304  DISTRESSES  OF 

lowed  the  same  line  within  her  province;  no 
woman  was  ever  a  better  (Economist,  or  spun  or 
wove  better  linen;  yet  we  must  perish,  perish 
like  wild  beasts,  included  within  a  ring  of  fire ! 
Yes,  I  will  chearfully  embrace  that  resource, 
it  is  an  holy  inspiration:  by  night  and  by 
day,  it  presents  itself  to  my  mind:  I  have  care 
fully  revolved  the  scheme;  I  have  considered 
in  all  its  future  effects  and  tendencies,  the 
new  mode  of  living  we  must  pursue,  without 
salt,  without  spices,  without  linen  and  with  little 
other  cloathing;  the  art  of  hunting,  we  must 
acquire,  the  new  manners  we  must  adopt,  the 
new  language  we  must  speak;  the  dangers 
attending  the  education  of  my  children  we  must 
endure.  These  changes  may  appear  more  terrific 
at  a  distance  perhaps  than  when  grown  familiar 
by  practice:  what  is  it  to  us,  whether  we  eat 
well  made  pastry,  or  pounded  alagriches;  well 
roasted  beef,  or  smoked  venison;  cabbages,  or 
squashes?  Whether  we  wear  neat  home-spun, 
or  good  beaver;  whether  we  sleep  on  feather- 
beds,  or  on  bear-skins?  The  difference  is  not 
worth  attending  to.  The  difficulty  of  the  lan 
guage,  fear  of  some  great  intoxication  among 
the  Indians;  finally,  the  apprehension  lest  my 
younger  children  should  be  caught  by  that  sin 
gular  charm,  so  dangerous  at  their  tender 
years;  are  the  only  considerations  that  startle 

me. 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  305 

me.  By  what  power  does  it  come  to  pass,  that 
children  who  have  been  adopted  when  young 
among  these  people,  can  never  be  prevailed 
on  to  re-adopt  European  manners?  Many  an 
anxious  parent  I  have  seen  last  war,  who  at  1 
the  return  of  the  peace,  went  to  the  Indian  j 
villages  where  they  knew  their  children  had 
been  carried  in  captivity ;  when  to  their  inex 
pressible  sorrow,  they  found  them  so  perfectly 
Indianized,  that  many  knew  them  no  longer, 
and  those  whose  more  advanced  ages  permitted 
them  to  recollect  their  fathers  and  mothers,  ab 
solutely  refused  to  follow  them,  and  ran  to 
their  adopted  parents  for  protection  against  the 
effusions  of  love  their  unhappy  real  parents  lav 
ished  on  them !  Incredible  as  this  may  appear, 
I  have  heard  it  asserted  in  a  thousand  instances, 
among  persons  of  credit.  In  the  village  of 

,  where  I  purpose  to  go,  there  lived, 

about  fifteen  years  ago,  an  Englishman  and  a 
Swede,  whose  history  would  appear  moving, 
had  I  time  to  relate  it.  They  were  grown  to 
the  age  of  men  when  they  were  taken;  they 
happily  escaped  the  great  punishment  of  war 
captives,  and  were  obliged  to  marry  the  Squaw* 
who  had  saved  their  lives  by  adoption.  By  the 
force  of  habit,  they  became  at  last  thoroughly 
naturalised  to  this  wild  course  of  life.  While 
I  was  there,  their  friends  sent  them  a  consider 
able 


306 


DISTRESSES  OF 


A  9 


able  sum  of  money  to  ransom  themselves  with. 
The  Indians,  their  old  masters,  gave  them 
their  choice,  and  without  requiring  any  con 
sideration,  told  them,  that  they  had  been  long 
as  free  as  themselves.  £They  chose  to  remain; 
and  the  reasons  they  gave  me  would  greatly 
surprise  you :  the  most  perfect  freedom,  the 
ease  of  living,  the  absence  of  those  cares  and 
corroding  solicitudes  which  so  often  prevail 
with  us;  the  peculiar  goodness  of  the  soil  they 
cultivated,  for  they  did  not  trust  altogether  to 
hunting;  all  these,  and  many  more  motives, 
which  I  have  forgot,  made  them  prefer  that 
life,  of  which  we  entertain  such  dreadful 
opinions^  It  cannot  be,  therefore,  so  bad  as 
we  generally  conceive  it  to  be ;  there  must  be  in 
their  social  bond  something  singularly  capti 
vating,  and  far  superior  to  any  thing  to  be 
boasted  of  among  us;  for  thousands  of  Eu 
ropeans  are  Indians,  and  we  have  no  examples 
of  even  one  of  those  Aborigines  having  from 
choice  become  Europeans!  [There  must  be 

j^»  something  more  congenial  jto  our  native  dispo- 
1  sitions,  than  the  fictitious  society  in  which  we 

s,V|live;  or  else  why  should  children,  and  even 
grown  persons,  become  in  a  short  time  so  invin 
cibly  attached  to  it?  There  must  be  some 
thing  very  bewitching  in  their  manners,  some 
thing  very  indelible  and  marked  by  the  very 

hands 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  307 

hands  of  nature^  For,  take  a  young  Indian 
lad,  give  him  the  best  education  you  possibly 
can,  load  him  with  your  bounty,  with  presents, 
nay  with  riches;  yet  he  will  secretly  long  for 
his  native  woods,  which  you  would  imagine  he 
must  have  long  since  forgot;  and  on  the  first 
opportunity  he  can  possibly  find,  you  will  see 
him  voluntarily  leave  behind  him  all  you  have 
given  him,  and  return  with  inexpressible  joy 

to  lie  on  the  mats  of  his  fathers.     Mr.  , 

some  years  ago,  received  from  a  good  old  In 
dian,  who  died  in  his  house,  a  young  lad,  of 
nine  years  of  age,  his  grandson.  He  kindly 
educated  him  with  his  children,  and  bestowed 
on  him  the  same  care  and  attention  in  respect  to 
the  memory  of  his  venerable  grandfather,  who 
was  a  worthy  man.  He  intended  to  give  him  a 
genteel  trade,  but  in  the  spring  season  when  all 
the  family  went  to  the  woods  to  make  their 
maple  sugar,  he  suddenly  disappeared;  and  it 
was  not  until  seventeen  months  after,  that  his 
benefactor  heard  he  had  reached  the  village  of 
Bald  Eagle,  where  he  still  dwelt.  Let  us  say 
what  we  will  of  them,  of  their  inferior  organs, 
of  their  want  of  bread,  &c.  thev  are  as  stout  and 
well  made  as  the  Europeans.  ^Without  temples, 
without  priests,  without  kings,  and  without 
laws,  they  are  in  many  instances  superior  to  us; 
and  the  proofs  of  what  I  advance,  are,  that 

they 


y 


308  DISTRESSES  OF 

they  live  without  care,  sleep  without  in 
quietude,  take  life  as  it  comes,  bearing  all  its 
asperities  with  unparalleled  patience,  and  die 
without  any  kind  of  apprehension  for  what 
they  have  done,  qj^for  what  they  expect  to 
meet  with  hereafterj  What  system  of  phil 
osophy  can  give  us  so  many  necessary  qualifica 
tions  for  happiness?  They  most  certainly  are 
much  more  closely  connected  with  nature  than 
we  are;  they  are  her  immediate  children,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  woods  are  her  undefiled  off 
spring:  those  of  the  plains  are  her  degenerated 
breed,  far,  very  far  removed  from  her  prim 
itive  laws,  from  her  original  design.  It  is 
therefore  resolved  on.  I  will  either  die  in 
the  attempt  or  succeed;  better  perish  all  to 
gether  in  one  fatal  hour,  than  to  suffer  what  we 
daily  endure.  I  do  not  expect  to  enjoy  in  the 

village  of ,  an  uninterrupted  happiness; 

it  cannot  be  our  lot,  let  us  live  where  we  will;  I 
am  not  founding  my  future  prosperity  on 
golden  dreams.  Place  mankind  where  you 
will,  they  must  always  have"  adverse  circum 
stances  to  struggle  with;  from  nature,  acci 
dents,  constitution;  from  seasons,  from  that 
great  combination  of  mischances  which  perpet 
ually  lead  us  to  new  diseases,  to  poverty,  &c. 
Who  knows  but  I  may  meet  in  this  new  situa 
tion,  some  accident  from  whence  may  spring 

up 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  309 

up  new  sources  of  unexpected  prosperity?  Who 
can  be  presumptuous  enough  to  predict  all  the 
good?  Who  can  foresee  all  the  evils,  which 
strew  the  paths  of  our  lives?  But  after  all,  I 
cannot  but  recollect  what  sacrifice  I  am  going 
to  make,  what  amputation  I  am  going  to 
suffer,  what  transition  I  am  going  to  experience. 
Pardon  my  repetitipns^m^sdld>,..Diy,..tnfling  re 
flections,  they  proceed  from  the  agitations  of 
my  mind,  and  the  fulness  of  my  heart;  the 
action  of  thus  retracing  them  seems  to  lighten 
the  burthen,  and  to  exhilarate  my  spirits;  this 
is  besides  the  last  letter  you  will  receive  from 
me;  I  would  fain  tell  you  all,  though  I  hardly 
know  how.  Oh !  in  the  hours,  in  the  moments 
of  my  greatest  anguish,  could  I  intuitively  rep 
resent  to  you  that  variety  of  thought  which 
crouds  on  my  mind,  you  would  have  reason  to 
be  surprised,  and  to  doubt  of  their  possibility. 
Shall  we  ever  meet  again?  If  we  should, 

where  will  it  be  ?    On  the  wild  shores  of . 

If  it  be  my  doom  to  end  my  days  there,  I  will 
greatly  improve  them ;  and  perhaps  make  room 
for  a  few  more  families,  who  will  choose  to 
retire  from  the  fury  of  a  storm,  the  agitated 
billows  of  which  will  yet  roar  for  many  years 
on  our  extended  shores.  Perhaps  I  may  re 
possess  my  house,  if  it  be  not  burnt  down;  but 
how  will  my  improvements  look?  why  half 

defaced, 


310  DISTRESSES  OF 

defaced,  bearing  the  strong  marks  of  abandon 
ment,  and  of  the  ravages  of  war.  However, 
at  present  I  give  every  thing  over  for  lost;  I 
will  bid  a  long  farewell  to  what  I  leave  behind. 
If  ever  I  repossess  it,  I  shall  receive  it  as  a  gift, 
as  a  reward  for  my  conduct  and  fortitude.  Do 
not  imagine,  however,  that  I  am  a  stoic — by 
no  means:  I  must,  on  the  contrary,  confess  to 
you,  that  I  feel  the  keenest  regret,  at  aban 
doning  an  house  which  I  have  in  some  measure 
reared  with  my  own  hands.  Yes,  perhaps  I 
may  never  revisit  those  fields  which  I  have 
cleared,  those  trees  which  I  have  planted,  those 
meadows  which,  in  my  youth,  were  a  hideous 
wilderness,  now  converted  by  my  industry  into 
rich  pastures  and  pleasant  lawns.  If  in  Europe 
it  is  praise-worthy  to  be  attached  to  paternal 
inheritances,  how  much  more  natural,  how 
much  more  powerful  must  the  tie  be  with  us, 
who,  if  I  may  be  permitted  the  expression,  are 
the  founders,  the  creators  of  our  own  farms! 
When  I  see  my  table  surrounded  with  my 
blooming  offspring,  all  united  in  the  bonds  of 
the  strongest  affection,  it  kindles  in  my  paternal 
heart  a  variety  of  tumultuous  sentiments,  which 
none  but  a  father  and  a  husband  in  my  situa 
tion  can  feel  or  describe.  Perhaps  I  may  see 
my  wife,  my  children,  often  distressed,  involun 
tarily  recalling  to  their  minds  the  ease  and 

abundance 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  311 

abundance  which  they  enjoyed  under  the  pa 
ternal  roof.  Perhaps  I  may  see  them  want  that 
bread  which  I  now  leave  behind;  overtaken  by 
diseases  and  penury,  rendered  more  bitter  by 
the  recollection  of  former  days  of  opulence  and 
plenty.  Perhaps  I  may  be  assailed  on  every 
side  by  unforseen  accidents,  which  I  shall  not 
be  able  to  prevent  or  to  alleviate.  Can  I  con 
template  such  images  without  the  most  unutter 
able  emotions?  My  fate  is  determined;  but 
I  have  not  determined  it,  you  may  assure  your 
self,  without  having  undergone  the  most  pain 
ful  conflicts  of  a  variety  of  passions; — interest, 
love  of  ease,  disappointed  views,  and  pleas 
ing  expectations  frustrated; — I  shuddered  at 
the  review!  Would  to  God  I  was  master  of 
the  stoical  tranquillity  of  that  magnanimous 
sect;  oh,  that  I  were  possessed  of  those  sublime 
lessons  which  Appollonius  of  Chalcis  gave  to 
the  Emperor  Antoninus!  I  could  then  with 
much  more  propriety  guide  the  helm  of  my  lit 
tle  bark,  which  is  soon  to  be  freighted  with  all 
that  I  possess  most  dear  on  earth,  through  this 
stormy  passage  to  a  safe  harbour;  and  when 
there,  become  to  my  fellow  passengers,  a  surer 
guide,  a  brighter  example,  a  pattern  more 
worthy  of  imitation,  throughout  all  the  new 
scenes  they  must  pass,  and  the  new  career  they 
must  traverse.  I  have  observed  notwithstand 
ing, 


312  DISTRESSES  OF 

ing,  the  means,  hitherto  made  use  of,  to  arm 
the  principal  nations  against  our  frontiers :  Yet 
they  have  not,  they  will  not  take  up  the  hatchet 
against  a  people  who  have  done  them  no  harm. 
The  passions  necessary  to  urge  these  people  to 
war,  cannot  be  roused,  they  cannot  feel  the 
stings  of  vengeance,  the  thirst  of  which  alone 
can  compel  them  to  shed  blood:  far  superior 
in  their  motives  of  action  to  the  Europeans, 
who  for  sixpence  per  day,  may  be  engaged  to 
shed  that  of  any  people  on  earth.  They  know 
nothing  of  the  nature  of  our  disputes,  they  have 
no  ideas  of  such  revolutions  as  this;  a  civil 
division  of  a  village  or  tribe,  are  events  which 
have  never  been  recorded  in  their  traditions: 
many  of  them  know  very  well  that  they  have 
too  long  been  the  dupes  and  the  victims  of  both 
parties;  foolishly  arming  for  our  sakes,  some 
times  against  each  other,  sometimes  against  our 
white  enemies.  They  consider  us  as  born  on  the 
same  land,  and,  though  they  have  no  reasons  to 
love  us,  yet  they  seem  carefully  to  avoid  en 
tering  into  this  quarrel,  from  whatever  motives. 
I  am  speaking  of  those  nations  with  which  I 
am  best  acquainted,  a  few  hundreds  of  the 
worst  kind  mixed  with  whites,  worse  than  them 
selves,  are  now  hired  by  Great  Britain,  to  per 
petuate  those  dreadful  incursions.  In  my  youth 

I  traded  with  the ,  under  the  conduct  of 

my 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  313 

my  uncle,  and  always  traded  justly  and  equit 
ably;  some  of  them  remember  it  to  this  day. 
Happily  their  village  is  far  removed  from  the 
dangerous  neighbourhood  of  the  whites;  I  sent 
a  man,  last  spring  to  it,  who  understands  the 
woods  extremely  well,  and  who  speaks  their 
language;  he  is  just  returned,  after  several 
weeks  absence,  and  has  brought  me,  as  I  had 
flattered  myself,  a  string  of  thirty  purple  wam 
pum,  as  a  token  that  their  honest  chief  will 
spare  us  half  of  his  wigwham  until  we  have* 
time  to  erect  one.  He  has  sent  me  word  that 
they  have  land  in  plenty,  of  which  they  are  not 
so  covetous  as  the  whites;  that  we  may  plant 
for  ourselves,  and  that  in  the  mean  time  he 
will  procure  for  us  some  corn  and  some  meat; 

that  fish  is  plenty  in  the  waters  of ,  and 

that  the  village  to  which  he  had  laid  open  my 
proposals,  have  no  objection  to  our  becoming 
dwellers  with  them.  I  have  not  yet  communi 
cated  these  glad  tidings  to  my  wife,  nor  .do  I 
know  how  to  do  it;  I  tremble  lest  she  should 
refuse  to  follow  me;  lest  the  sudden  idea  of 
this  removal  rushing  on  her  mind,  might  be  too 
powerful.  I  flatter  myself  I  shall  be  able  to 
accomplish  it,  and  to  prevail  on  her;  I  fear 
nothing  but  the  effects  of  her  strong  attachment 
to  her  relations.  I  would  willingly  let  you 
know  how  I  purpose  to  remove  my  family  to 

so 


314  DISTRESSES  OF 

so  great  a  distance,  but  it  would  become  unin 
telligible  to  you,  because  you  are  not  acquainted 
with  the  geographical  situation  of  this  part  of 
the  country.  Suffice  it  for  you  to  know,  that 
with  about  twenty-three  miles  land  carriage,  I 
am  enabled  to  perform  the  rest  by  water;  and 
when  once  afloat,  I  care  not  whether  it  be  two 
or  three  hundred  miles.  I  propose  to  send  all 
our  provisions,  furniture,  and  clothes  to  my 
wife's  father,  who  approves  of  the  scheme,  and 
to  reserve  nothing  but  a  few  necessary  articles 
of  covering;  trusting  to  the  furs  of  the  chase, 
for  our  future  apparel.  Were  we  imprudently 
to  incumber  ourselves  too  much  with  baggage, 

we  should  never  reach  to  the  waters  of , 

which  is  the  most  dangerous  as  well  as  the 
most  difficut  part  of  our  journey;  and  yet  but 
a  trifle  in  point  of  distance.  I  intend  to  say  to 
my  negroes — In  the  name  of  God,  be  free,  my 
honest  lads,  I  thank  you  for  your  past  services ; 
go,  from  henceforth,  and  work  for  yourselves; 
look  on  me  as  your  old  friend,  and  fellow 
t^*»  labourer;  be  sober,  frugal,  and  industrious,  and 

*  y°u  neec*  not  fear  earnmg  a  comfortable  sub- 
sistence. — Lest   my   countrymen   should   think 

*  that  I  am  gone  to  join  the  incendiaries  of  our 

frontiers,  I  intend  to  write  a  letter  to  Mr , 

to  inform  him  of  our  retreat,  and  of  the  rea- 

*     sons  that  have  urged  me  to  it.    The  man  whom 

I  sent 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  315 

I  sent  to village,  is  to  accompany  us  also, 

and  a  very  useful  companion  he  will  be  on  every 
account. 

You  may  therefore,  by  means  of  anticipa 
tion,  behold  me  under  the  Wigwham ;  I  am  so 
well  acquainted  with  the  principal  manners  of 
these  people,  that  I  entertain  not  the  least  ap 
prehension  from  them.  I  rely  more  securely  on 
their  strong  hospitality,  than  on  the  witnessed 
compacts  of  many  Europeans.  As  soon  as  pos 
sible  after  my  arrival,  I  design  to  build  myself 
a  wigwham,  after  the  same  manner  and  size 
with  the  rest,  in  order  to  avoid  being  thought 
singular,  or  giving  occasion  for  any  railleries; 
though  these  people  are  seldom  guilty  of  such 
European  follies.  I  shall  erect  it  hard  by  the 
lands  which  they  propose  to  allot  me,  and  will 
endeavour  that  my  wife,  my  children,  and  my 
self  may  be  adopted  soon  after  our  arrival.  Thus 
becoming  truly  inhabitants  of  their  village,  we 
shall  immediately  occupy  that  rank  within  the 
pale  of  their  society,  which  will  afford  us  all 
the  amends  we  can  possibly  expect  for  the  loss 
we  have  met  with  by  the  convulsions  of  our 
own.  According  to  their  customs  we  shall 
likewise  receive  names  from  them,  by  which  we 
shall  always  be  known.  My  youngest  children 
shall  learn  to  swim,  and  to  shoot  with  the  bow, 
that  they  may  acquire  such  talents  as  will  nec 
essarily 


316  DISTRESSES  OF 

essarily  raise  them  into  some  degree  of  esteem 
among  the  Indian  lads  of  their  own  age;  the 
rest  of  us  must  hunt  with  the  hunters.  I  have 
been  for  several  years  an  expert  marksman; 
but  I  dread  lest  the  imperceptible  charm  of 
Indian  education,  may  seize  my  younger  chil 
dren,  and  give  them  such  a  propensity  to  that 
mode  of  life,  as  may  preclude  their  returning 
to  the  manners  and  customs  of  their  parents. 
1  JL4rave  but  one  remedy  to  prevent  this  great 
V  evil^nd  that  is,  to  employ  them  in  the  labour 
\  of  the  fields,  as  much  as  I  can;  I  am  even  re- 
i  I  solved  to  make  their  daily  subsistence  depend 
\  \  altogether  on  it.  As  long  as  we  keep  ourselves 
busy  in  tilling  the  earth,  there  is  no  fear  of  any 
of  us  becoming  wild;  it  is  the  chase  and  the 
food  it  procures,  that  have  this  strange  effect. 
Excuse  a  simile — those  hogs  which  range  in  the 
woods,  and  to  whom  grain  is  given  once  a 
week,  preserve  their  former  degree  of  tame- 
ness;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  reduced 
to  live  on  ground  nuts,  and  on  what  they  can 
get,  they  soon  become  wild  and  fierce.  For  my 
part,  I  can  plough,  sow,  and  hunt,  as  occasion 
may  require;  but  my  wife,  deprived  of  wool, 
and  flax,  will  have  no  room  for  industry;  what 
is  she  then  to  do?  like  the  other  squaws,  she 
must  cook  for  us  the  nasaump,  the  ninchicke, 
and  such  other  preparations  of  corn  as  are  cus 
tomary 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  317 

ternary  among  these  people.  She  must  learn 
to  bake  squashes  and  pumpkins  under  the 
ashes;  to  slice  and  smoke  the  meat  of  our  own 
killing,  in  order  to  preserve  it ;  she  must  chear- 
fully  adopt  the  manners  and  customs  of  her 
neighbours,  in  their  dress,  deportment,  conduct, 
and  internal  (Economy,  in  all  respects.  Surely 
if  we  can  have  fortitude  enough  to  quit  all  we 
have,  to  remove  so  far,  and  to  associate  with 
people  so  different  from  us;  these  necessary 
compliances  are  but  part  of  the  scheme.  The 
change  of  garments,  when  those  they  carry  with 
them  are  worne  out,  will  not  be  the  least  of 
my  wife's  and  daughter's  concerns:  though  I 
am  in  hopes  that  self-love  will  invent  some  sort 
of  reparation.  Perhaps  you  would  not  believe 
that  there  are  in  the  woods  looking-glasses,  and 
paint  of  every  colour;  and  that  the  inhabitants 
take  as  much  pains  to  adorn  their  faces  and 
their  bodies,  to  fix  their  bracelets  of  silver,  and 
plait  their  hair,  as  our  forefathers  the  Picts 
used  to  do  in  the  time  of  the  Romans.  Not 
that  I  would  wish  to  see  either  my  wife  or 
daughter  adopt  those  savage  customs;  we  can 
live  in  great  peace  and  harmony  with  them 
without  descending  to  every  article;  the  inter 
ruption  of  trade  hath,  I  hope,  suspended  this 
mode  of  dress.  My  wife  understands  inocu 
lation  perfectly  well,  she  inoculated  all  our 

children 


3i8  DISTRESSES  OF 

children  one  after  another,  and  has  success 
fully  performed  the  operation  on  several  scores 
of  people,  who,  scattered  here  and  there 
through  our  woods,  were  too  far  removed  from 
all  medical  assistance.  If  we  can  persuade  but 
one  family  to  submit  to  it,  and  it  succeeds,  we 
shall  then  be  as  happy  as  our  situation  will  ad 
mit  of;  it  will  raise  her  into  some  degree  of 
consideration,  for  whoever  is  useful  in  any  so 
ciety  will  always  be  respected.  If  we  are  so 
fortunate  as  to  carry  one  family  through  a 
disorder,  which  is  the  plague  among  these  peo 
ple,  I  trust  to  the  force  of  example,  we  shall 
then  become  truly  necessary,  valued,  and  be 
loved;  we  indeed  owe  every  kind  office  to  a 
society  of  men  who  so  readily  offer  to  assist  us 
into  their  social  partnership,  and  to  extend  to 
my  family  the  shelter  of  their  village,  the 
strength  of  their  adoption,  and  even  the  dignity 
of  their  names.  God  grant  us  a  prosperous  be 
ginning,  we  may  then  hope  to  be  of  more  ser 
vice  to  them  than  even  missionaries  who  have 
been  sent  to  preach  to  them  a  Gospel  they  can 
not  understand. 

As  to  religion,  our  mode  of  worship  will 
not  suffer  much  by  this  removal  from  a  cul 
tivated  country,  into  the  bosom  of  the  woods; 
for  it  cannot  be  much  simpler  than  that  which 
we  have  followed  here  these  many  years:  and 

I  will 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  319 

I  will  with  as  much  care  as  I  can,  redouble 
my  attention,  and  twice  a  week,  retrace  to 
them  the  great  outlines  of  their  duty  to  God 
and  to  man.  I  will  read  and  expound  to  them 
some  part  of  the  decalogue,  which  is  the 
method  I  have  pursued  ever  since  I  married. 
Half  a  dozen  of  acres  on  the  shores  of 

,  the  soil  of  which  I  know  well,  will  yield 

us  a  great  abundance  of  all  we  want;  I  will 
make  it  appoint  to  give  the  overplus  to  such  In 
dians  as  shall  be  most  unfortunate  in  their 
huntings;  I  will  persuade  them,  if  I  can,  to  till 
a  little  more  land  than  they  do,  and  not  to 
trust  so  much  to  the  produce  of  the  chase.  To 
encourage  them  still  farther,  I  will  give  a  quirn 
to  every  six  families;  I  have  built  many  for 
our  poor  back  settlers,  it  being  often  the  want 
of  mills  which  prevents  them  from  raising 
grain.  As  I  am  a  carpenter,  I  can  build  my 
own  plough,  and  can  be  of  great  service  to 
many  of  them;  my  example  alone,  may  rouse 
the  industry  of  some,  and  serve  to  direct  others 
in  their  labours.  The  difficulties  of  the  lan 
guage  will  soon  be  removed;  in  my  evening  con 
versations,  I  will  endeavour  to  make  them  reg 
ulate  the  trade  of  their  village  in  such  a  manner 
as  that  those  pests  of  the  continent,  those  Indian 
traders,  may  not  come  within  a  certain  distance ; 
and  there  they  shall  be  obliged  to  transact  their 

business 


320  DISTRESSES  OF 

business  before  the  old  people.  I  am  in  hopes 
that  the  constant  respect  which  is  paid  to  the 
elders,  and  shame,  may  prevent  the  young 
hunters  from  infringing  this  regulation.  The 

son  of ,  will  soon  be  made  acquainted  with 

our  schemes,  and  I  trust  that  the  power  of  love, 
and  the  strong  attachment  he  professes  for 
my  daughter,  may  bring  him  along  with  us :  he 
will  make  an  excellent  hunter;  young  and  vig 
orous,  he  will  equal  in  dexterity  the  stoutest 
man  in  the  village.  Had  it  not  been  for  this 
fortunate  circumstance,  there  would  have  been 
the  greatest  danger;  for  however  I  respect  the 
simple,  the  inoffensive  society  of  these  people 
in  their  villages,  the  strongest  prejudices  would 
make  me  abhor  any  alliance  with  them  in 
blood :  disagreeable  no  doubt,  to  nature's  inten 
tions  which  have  strongly  divided  us  by  so 
many  indelible  characters.  In  the  days  of  our 
sickness,  we  shall  have  recourse  to  their  medi 
cal  knowledge,  which  is  well  calculated  for  the 
simple  diseases  to  which  they  are  subject.  Thus 
shall  we  metamorphose  ourselves,  from  neat, 
decent,  opulent  planters,  surrounded  with  every 
conveniency  which  our  external  labour  and  in 
ternal  industry  could  give,  into  a  still  simpler 
people  divested  of  every  thing  beside  hope, 
food,  and  the  raiment  of  the  woods:  aban 
doning  the  large  framed  house,  to  dwell  under 

the 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  321 

the  wigwham;  and  the  featherbed,  to  lie  on 
the  matt,  or  bear's  skin.  There  shall  we  sleep 
undisturbed  by  fruitful  dreams  and  apprehen 
sions;  rest  and  peace  of  mind  will  make  us 
the  most  ample  amends  for  what  we  shall  leave 
behind.  These  blessings  cannot  be  purchased 
too  dear;  too  long  have  we  been  deprived  of 
them.  I  would  chearfully  go  even  to  the  Mis 
sissippi,  to  find  that  repose  to  which  we  have 
been  so  long  strangers.  My  heart  sometimes 
seems  tired  with  beating,  it  wants  rest  like  my 
eye-lids,  which  feel  oppressed  with  so  many 
watchings. 

These  are  the  component  parts  of  my  scheme, 
the  success  of  each  of  which  appears  feasible; 
from  whence  I  flatter  myself  with  the  proba 
ble  success  of  the  whole.  Still  the  danger  of 
Indian  education  returns  to  my  mind,  and 
alarms  me  much;  then  again  I  contrast  it  with 
the  education  of  the  times;  both  appear  to  be 
equally  pregnant  with  evils.  Reason  points  out 
the  necessity  of  chusing  the  least  dangerous, 
which  I  must  consider  as  the  only  good  within 
my  reach;  I  persuade  myself  that  industry  and 
labour  will  be  a  sovereign  preservative  against 
the  dangers  of  the  former;  but  I  consider,  at 
the  same  time,  that  the  share  of  labour  and  in 
dustry  which  is  intended  to  procure  but  a  simple 
subsistence,  with  hardly  any  superfluity,  cannot 

have 


322  DISTRESSES  OF 

have  the  same  restrictive  effects  on  our  minds  as 
when  we  tilled  the  earth  on  a  more  extensive 
scale.  The  surplus  could  be  then  realized  into 
solid  wealth,  and  at  the  same  time  that  this 
realization  rewarded  our  past  labours,  it  en 
grossed  and  fixed  the  attention  of  the  labourer, 
and  cherished  in  his  mind  the  hope  of  future 
riches.  In  order  to  supply  this  great  deficiency 
of  industrious  motives,  and  to  hold  out  to 
them  a  real  object  to  prevent  the  fatal  con 
sequences  of  this  sort  of  apathy;  I  will  keep  an 
exact  account  of  all  that  shall  be  gathered,  and 
give  each  of  them  a  regular  credit  for  the 
amount  of  it  to  be  paid  them  in  real  property 
at  the  return  of  peace.  Thus,  though  seem 
ingly  toiling  for  bare  subsistence  on  a  foreign 
land,  they  shall  entertain  the  pleasing  prospect 
of  seeing  the  sum  of  their  labours  one  day  real 
ized  either  in  legacies  or  gifts,  equal  if  not  su 
perior  to  it.  The  yearly  expence  of  the  clothes 
which  they  would  have  received  at  home,  and 
of  which  they  will  then  be  deprived;  shall 
likewise  be  added  to  their  credit;  thus  I  flatter 
myself  that  they  will  more  chearfully  wear  the 
blanket,  the  matchcoat  and  the  Mockassins. 
Whatever  success  they  may  meet  with  in 
hunting  or  fishing,  shall  only  be  considered 
as  recreation  and  pastime;  I  shall  thereby  pre 
vent  them  from  estimating  the*ir  skill  in  the 

chase 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  323 

chase  as  an  important  and  necessary  accom 
plishment.  I  mean  to  say  to  them:  uYou  shall 
"  hunt  and  fish  merely  to  shew  your  new  com- 
"  panions  that  you  are  not  inferior  to  them 
"  in  point  of  sagacity  and  dexterity."  Were 
I  to  send  them  to  such  schools  as  the  interior 
parts  of  our  settlements  afford  at  present,  what 
can  they  learn  there?  How  could  I  support 
them  there?  What  must  become  of  me;  am 
I  to  proceed  on  my  voyage,  and  leave  them? 
That  I  never  could  submit  to.  Instead  of  the 
perpetual  discordant  noise  of  disputes  so  com 
mon  among  us,  instead  of  those  scolding  scenes, 
frequent  in  every  house,  they  will  observe 
nothing  but  silence  at  home  and  abroad:  a 
singular  appearance  of  peace  and  concord  are 
the  first  characteristics  which  strike  you  in  the 
villages  of  these  people.  Nothing  can  be  more 
pleasing,  nothing  surprises  an  European  so 
much  as  the  silence  and  harmony  which  prevails 
among  them,  and  in  each  family;  except  when 
disturbed  by  that  accursed  spirit  given  them 
by  the  wood  rangers  in  exchange  for  their 
furs.  If  my  children  learn  nothing  of  geomet 
rical  rules,  the  use  of  the  compass,  or  of  the 
Latin  tongue,  they  will  learn  and  practice  so 
briety,  for  rum  can  no  longer  be  sent  to  these 
people;  they  will  learn  that  modesty  and  diffi 
dence,  for  which  the  young  Indians  are  so 

remarkable ; 


A 


324  DISTRESSES  OF 

remarkable;  they  will  consider  labour  as  the 
most  essential  qualification;  hunting  as  the 
second.  They  will  prepare  themselves  in  the 
prosecution  of  our  small  rural  schemes,  car 
ried  on  for  the  benefit  of  our  little  community, 
to  extend  them  further  when  each  shall  receive 
his  inheritance.  Their  tender  minds  will  cease 
to  be  agitated  by  perpetual  alarms ;  to  be  made 
cowards  by  continual  terrors:  if  they  acquire 

in  the  village  of ,  such  an  aukwardness  of 

deportment  and  appearance  as  would  render 
them  ridiculous  in  our  gay  capitals,  they  will 
imbibe,  I  hope,  a  confirmed  taste  for  that  sim 
plicity,  which  so  well  becomes  the  cultivators 
of  the  land.  If  I  cannot  teach  them  any  of 
those  professions  which  sometimes  embellish 
and  support  our  society,  I  will  shew  them  how 
to  hew  wood,  how  to  construct  their  own 
ploughs;  and  with  a  few  tools  how  to  supply 
themselves  with  every  necessary  implement, 
both  in  the  house  and  in  the  field.  If  they 
are  hereafter  obliged  to  confess,  that  they  be 
long  to  no  one  particular  church,  I  shall  have 
the  consolation  of  teaching  them  that  great, 
that  primary  worship  which  is  the  foundation 
of  all  others.  If  they  do  not  fear  God  accord 
ing  to  the  tenets  of  any  one  seminary;  they  shall 
learn  to  worship  him  upon  the  broad  scale  of 
nature.  The  Supreme  Being  does  not  reside  in 

peculiar 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  325 

peculiar  churches  or  communities;  he  is  equally' 
the  great  Maniton  of  the  woods  and  of  the 
plains;  and  even  in  the  gloom,  the  obscurity 
of  those  very  woods,  his  justice  may  be  as  well 
understood  and  felt  as  in  the  most  sumptuous 
temples.  Each  worship  with  us,  hath,  you 
know,  its  peculiar  political  tendency;  there  it 
has  none  but  to  inspire  gratitude  and  truth : 
their  tender  minds  shall  receive  no  other  idea 
of  the  Supreme  Being,  than  that  of  the  father 
of  all  men,  who  requires  nothing  more  of  us 
than  what  tends  to  make  each  other  happy. 
We  shall  say  with  them.  Soungwaneha,  esa 
caurounkyawga,  nughwonshauza  neattewek, 
nesalanga. — Our  father,  be  thy  will  done  in 
earth  as  it  is  in  great  heaven. 

Perhaps  my  imagination  gilds  too  strongly 
this  distant  prospect;  yet  it  appears  founded 
on  so  few,  and  simple  principles,  that  there 
is  not  the  same  probability  of  adverse  inci 
dents  as  in  more  complex  schemes.  These 
vague  rambling  contemplations  which  I  here 
faithfully  retrace,  carry  me  sometimes  to  a 
great  distance;  I  am  lost  in  the  anticipation 
of  the  various  circumstances  attending  this  pro 
posed  metamorphosis!  Many  unforeseen  ac 
cidents  may  doubtless  arise.  Alas!  it  is  easier 
for  me  in  all  the  glow  of  paternal  anxiety,  re 
clined  on  my  bed,  to  form  the  theory  of  my 

future 


326  DISTRESSES  OF 

future  conduct,  than  to  reduce  my  schemes  into 
practice.  But  when  once  secluded  from  the 
great  society  to  which  we  now  belong,  we  shall 
unite  closer  together;  and  there  will  be  less 
room  for  jealousies  or  contentions.  As  I  intend 
my  children  neither  for  the  law  nor  the  church, 
but  for  the  cultivation  of  the  land;  I  wish  them 
no  literary  accomplishments;  I  pray  heaven 
that  they  may  be  one  day  nothing  more  than 
expert  scholars  in  husbandry :  this  is  the  science 
which  made  our  continent  to  flourish  more 
rapidly  than  any  other.  Were  they  to  grow 
up  where  I  am  now  situated,  even  admitting 
that  we  were  in  safety;  two  of  them  are  verging 
toward  that  period  in  their  lives,  when  they 
must  necessarily  take  up  the  musket,  and  learn, 
in  that  new  school,  all  the  vices  which  are  so 
common  in  armies,  Great  God!  close  my  eyes 
for  ever,  rather  than  I  should  live  to  see  this 
calamity !  May  they  rather  become  inhabi 
tants  of  the  woods. 

Thus  then  in  the  village  of  ,  in  the 

bosom  of  that  peace  it  has  enjoyed  ever  since 
I  have  known  it,  connected  with  mild  hos 
pitable  people,  strangers  to  our  political  dis 
putes,  and  having  none  among  themselves;  on 
the  shores  of  a  fine  river,  surrounded  with 
woods,  abounding  with  game ;  our  little  society 
united  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  new 

adoptive 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  327 

adoptive  one,  in  which  we  shall  be  incorpor 
ated,  shall  rest  I  hope  from  all  fatigues,  from 
all  apprehensions,  from  our  perfect  terrors,  and 
from  our  long  watchings.  Not  a  word  of  poli 
tics,  shall  cloud  our  simple  conversation;  tired 
either  with  the  chase  or  the  labour  of  the  field, 
we  shall  sleep  on  our  mats  without  any  dis 
tressing  want,  having  learnt  to  retrench  every 
superfluous  one :  we  shall  have  but  two  prayers 
to  make  to  the  Supreme  Being,  that  he  may 
shed  his  fertilizing  dew  on  our  little  crops,  "and 
that  he  will  be  pleased  to  restore  peace  to  our 
unhappy  country.  These  shall  be  the  only  sub 
ject  of  our  nightly  prayers,  and  of  our  daily 
ejaculations :  and  if  the  labour,  the  industry,  the 
frugality,  the  union  of  men,  can  be  an  agree 
able  offering  to  him,  we  shall  not  fail  to 
receive  his  paternal  blessings.  There  I  shall 
contemplate  nature  in  her  most  wild  and  ample 
extent;  I  shall  carefully  study  a  species  of  so 
ciety,  of  which  I  have  at  present  but  very  im 
perfect  ideas;  I  yvill  endeavour  to  occupy  with 
propriety  that  place  which  will  enable  me  to 
enjoy  the  few  and  sufficient  benefits  it  confers. 
The  solitary  and  unconnected  mode  of  life  I 
have  lived  in  my  youth  must  fit  me  for  this 
trial,  I  am  not  the  first  who  has  attempted  it; 
Europeans  did  not,  it  is  true,  carry  to  the 
wilderness  numerous  families;  they  went  there 

as 


328  DISTRESSES  OF 

as  mere  speculators;  I,  as  a  man  seeking  a  ref 
uge  from  the  desolation  of  war.  They  went 
there  to  study  the  manner  of  the  aborigines;  I 
to  conform  to  them,  whatever  they  are;  some 
went  as  visitors,  as  travellers ;  I  as  a  sojourner, 
as  a  fellow  hunter  and  labourer,  go  determined 
industriously  to  work  up  among  them  such  a 
system  of  happiness  as  may  be  adequate  to  my 
future  situation,  and  may  be  a  sufficient  com 
pensation  for  all  my  fatigues  and  for  the  mis 
fortunes  I  have  borne :  I  have  always  found  it 
at  home,  I  may  hope  likewise  to  find  it  under 
the  humble  roof  of  my  wigwham. 

O!  Supreme  Being  if  among  the  immense 
variety  of  planets,  inhabited  by  thy  creative 
power,  thy  paternal  and  omnipotent  care  deigns 
to  extend  to  all  the  individuals  they  contain; 
if  it  be  not  beneath  thy  infinite  dignity  to  cast 
thy  eye  on  us  wretched  mortals;  if  my  future 
felicity  is  not  contrary  to  the  necessary  effects 
of  those  secret  causes  which  thou  hast  ap 
pointed,  receive  the  supplications  of  a  man,  to 
whom  in  thy  kindness  thou  hast  given  a  wife 
and  an  offspring:  View  us  all  with  benignity, 
sanctify  this  strong  conflict  of  regrets,  wishes, 
and  other  natural  passions;  guide  our  steps 
through  these  unknown  paths,  and  bless  our 
future  mode  of  life.  If  it  is  good  and  well  meant, 
it  must  proceed  from  thee;  thou  knowest,  O 

Lord, 


A  FRONTIER  MAN.  329 

Lord,  our  enterprise  contains  neither  fraud,  nor 
malice,  nor  revenge.  Bestow  on  me  that 
energy  of  conduct  now  become  so  necessary, 
that  it  may  be  in  my  power  to  carry  the  young 
family  thou  hast  given  me  through  this  great 
trial  with  safety  and  in  thy  peace.  Inspire  me 
with  such  intentions  and  such  rules  of  conduct 
as  may  be  most  acceptable  to  thee.  Preserve,  O 
God,  preserve  the  companion  of  my  bosom,  the 
best  gift  thou  hast  given  me:  endue  her  with 
courage  and  strength  sufficient  to  accomplish 
this  perilous  journey.  Bless  the  children  of  our 
love,  those  portions  of  our  hearts;  I  implore  thy 
divine  assistance,  speak  to  their  tender  minds, 
and  inspire  them  with  the  love  of  that  virtue 
which  alone  can  serve  as  the  basis  of  their  con 
duct  in  this  world,  and  of  their  happiness  with 
thee.  Restore  peace  and  concord  to  our  poor 
afflicted  country;  assuage  the  fierce  storm  which 
has  so  long  ravaged  it.  Permit,  I  beseech  thee, 
O  Father  of  nature,  that  our  ancient  virtues, 
and  our  industry,  may  not  be  totally  lost :  and 
that  as  a  reward  for  the  great  toils  we  have 
made  on  this  new  land,  we  may  be  restored  to 
our  ancient  tranquillity,  and  enabled  to  fill  it 
with  successive  generations,  that  will  constantly 
thank  thee  for  the  ample  subsistence  thou  hast 
given  them. 

The  unreserved  manner  in  which   I   have 

written, 


DISTRESSES,  &c. 


written,  must  give  you  a  convincing  proof  of 
that  friendship  and  esteem,  of  which  I  am 
sure  you  never  yet  doubted.  As  members  of  the 
same  society,  as  mutually  bound  by  the  ties 
of  affection  and  old  acquaintance,  you  certainly 
cannot  avoid  feeling  for  my  distresses;  you 
cannot  avoid  mourning  with  me  over  that  load 
of  physical  and  moral  evil  with  which  we  are 
all  oppressed.  My  own  share  of  it  I  often 
oveilook  when  I  minutely  contemplate  all  that 
hath  befallen  our  native  country. 

FINIS. 


APPENDIX    I. 

LETTERS  TO  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  FROM  MME. 
DE  HOUDETOT  AND  CREVECOEUR,  RE 
PRINTED  FROM  ORIGINALS  IN  THE  AMER 
ICAN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  AT  PHILA 
DELPHIA. 

From  the  Countess  dy  Houdetot. 

[Translated  from  the  French  original.] 

I  was  given  to  hope  in  the  Spring,  my  dear 
doctor,  that  I  should  see  you  some  day  at 
Sanois,  at  the  place  where  I  preserve  at  least 
a  memory  of  the  moments  that  you  were 
pleased  to  pass  there,  and  where  with  tender 
interest  I  still  cultivate  the  monument  which 
you  left  of  your  stay.  The  losses  which  I  have 
experienced  and  the  circumstances  in  which  I 
was  placed,  have  not  allowed  me  this  year  to 
express  to  you  in  person  my  anxiety  to  see  you 
in  my  home,  and  to  cultivate  the  good  opinion 
that  you  were  kind  enough  to  bestow  upon  me. 
May  I,  my  dear  doctor,  make  use  of  it  now,  in 
regard  to  a  young  American  who  has  just  ar 
rived  and  who  should  have  been  presented  and 
recommended  to  you  before?  He  is  a  French 
man 


332  APPENDIX    I. 

man  by  birth,  but  for  a  long  time  has  been  es 
tablished  in  your  country,  under  the  protection 
of  your  laws,  to  which  he  is  faithful.  He  has 
come  here  to  see  his  family  after  having  lost 
the  greater  part  of  his  possessions  through  the 
present  war.  His  name  is  Crevecoeur,  and  he 
is  the  son  of  a  friend,  of  more  than  twenty 
years'  standing,  of  my  husband  and  myself.  I 
beg  of  you  for  him  all  the  kindness  and  care 
that  are  in  your  power  and  that  circumstances 
permit.  All  that  I  can  add,  my  dear  doctor, 
to  the  sentiments  of  attachment  and  veneration 
with  which  you  have  inspired  me  is  the  regret 
not  to  be  able  to  assure  you  of  their  continu 
ance  as  warmly  as  I  should  like.  It  is  with 
these  sentiments,  my  dear  doctor,  that  I  have 
the  honor  to  remain,  during  all  my  life,  your 
very  humble  and  very  obedient  servant. 

August  10,  1781. 

Kindly  address  your  reply :  Rue  St.  Honore 
pres  la  place  de  Vendome. 


Caen  zyth  Augt.  1781. 
Sir: 

Chance  Enabled  me  the  other  day  to  take 
5  Americans  by  ye  hand  who  had  fortunately 
escaped  from  ye  English  prisons  &  Crossed  the 
Channell, — Luckily  for  me  as  well  as  for  them 

I  was 


APPENDIX    I.  333 

I  was  Just  arrived  from  N.  America :  where  I 
have  resided  27  years — I  brought  them  to  my 
father's  Seat,  who  Tells  me  that  he  had  Several 
Times  the  pleasure  of  dining  with  you  at  the 
Count  de  Houdetot's — the  Capt.  of  ye  boat 
readily  put  them  under  my  Care,  thence  I 
brought  them  here,  and  presented  them  to  ye 
Count  de  Blanchy  the  Commandant  of  this 
Province,  who  received  them  with  Kindness  and 
left  them  under  my  Care — they  gave  their  dec 
larations  before  the  admiralty,  &  were  duly 
acknowledg'd  to  be  Americans — as  they  are 
genteel  discreet  men  from  the  Massachusets 
I  have  placed  them  in  a  good  House  and  pro 
cured  them  the  Hospitality  of  the  City — all 
went  on  well  when  I  heard  that  their  boat  be 
longed  of  right  to  the  Duke  of  Ponthievre — In 
consequence  of  this  Information  I  visited  the 
Intendent's,  who  Told  me  that  if  I  wrote  a 
petition  in  their  name  to  the  admiral,  he  would 
Inclose  it  in  a  Letter  of  his  &  recommend  the 
contents;  this  I  have  done  &  thought  it  my 
duty  to  send  you  a  Copy  of  ye  Same,  that  you 
may  if  necessary  unite  your  good  Endeavours 
in  order  to  procure  to  the  5  brave  men  the 
Slender  Plank  on  which  they  have  reached  this 
shore — however,  as  it  is  uncertain,  whether  or 
no  the  Ravens  of  office  will  not  Swallow  all — 
I  have  procured  them  all  they  want — one  of 

the 


334  APPENDIX    I. 

the  Company  Luckily  heard  Yesterday  that  his 
brother  was  the  Second  in  Command  on  board 
the  black  Princess — him  I  have  sent  off  by  the 
Post,  with  a  Sufficient  Passeport — the  other  in 
tend  for  L'orient  as  soon  as  they  have  heard 
from  you — that  space  of  Time  they  shall  pass 
at  my  Father's  house — 

The  adventure  of  these  Men  as  well  as  that 
of  many  more  who  have  Landed  here,  hath 
Suggested  me  an  Idea  which  I  beg  to  Com 
municate — Policy  as  well  as  humanity  points 
out  the  Necessity  of  appointing  in  these  Ports 
some  Persons  who  shou'd  have  proper  author 
ity  to  claim  protect  and  befriend  all  such  Amer 
icans  as  shoud  Land  on  this  Coast — by  those 
simple  Means  those  people  woud  find  protec 
tion  everywhere  &  not  be  exposed  as  many 
of  them  are  to  be  treated  as  English  prisoners, 
which  Treatment  Tends  to  Nourish  prejudices, 
that  ought  to  be  extinguished — if  from  the  In 
formation  you  might  receive  of  me  from  the 
Count  de  Houdetot  you  thought  me  capable  of 
discharging  this  office  I'd  readily  accept  of  it 
without  either  fee  or  Reward,  glad  on  the  con 
trary  as  a  good  Frenchman  and  as  a  good 
American  to  contribute  my  Mite  towards  the 
Success  of  this  grand  this  usefull  revolution — 
Excuse  this  Letter  it  is  Zeal  and  the  purest  Zeal 
wch  hath  dictated  it;  with  so  much  the  more 

confidence 


APPENDIX    I.  335 

confidence  that  tho'  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of 
being  acquainted  with  you,  yet  I  well  know  Mr 
John  Jay  now  in  Spaign,  Mr  Governor  Morris, 
Mr.  Duwane5  &c.  &  all  the  New  York  dele 
gates — I  hope  the  representations  these  5 
Americans  have  made  you  will  be  Successfull, 
for  they  are  worthy  of  your  patronage.  I  hope 
also  that  you  will  approve  my  conduct  and  In 
tentions. 

I  Remain  with  the  most  unfeigned  Respect 
Your  very  Humble  Servant 

St.  John. 

At  Mr-  Le  Mozier  Merchd'  Rue  St.  Jean — 


Caen,  Sept.  26,  1781. 
Sir: 

Yes  Sir  I  am  the  Same  Person  whom 
Madame  La  Comtesse  de  Houdetot  has  been 
so  kind  as  to  mention  to  you, — the  Reason  of 
this  mistake  proceeds  from  the  Singularity  of 
ye  french  Customs,  which  renders  their  Names, 
allmost  arbitrary,  &  often  leads  them  to  for 
get  their  Family  ones;  it  is  in  Consequence  of 
this,  that  there  are  more  alias  dictios  in  this 
than  in  any  other  Country  in  Europe,  the  name 
of  our  Family  is  St.  Jean,  in  English  St.  John, 
a  name  as  Antient  as  the  Conquest  of  England 
by  Wm-  the  Bastard. — 

I  am 


336  APPENDIX    I. 

I  am  so  great  a  Stranger  to  the  manners  of 
this,  tho'  my  native  Country  (having  quitted  it 
very  young)  that  I  never  dreamt  I  had  any 
other,  than  the  old  family  name — I  was  greatly 
astonished  when  at  my  late  return,  I  saw  my 
self  under  the  Necessity  of  being  Called  by 
that  of  Crevecoeur, — Excuse  this  Tedious  ex 
planation,  which  I  hope  you  will  not  think  Im 
proper,  as  I  have  run  the  risk  of  either  remain 
ing  unknown  to  you,  or  of  Loosing  the  good 
effects  which  were  Intended  by  Madame  la 
Comtesse  de  Houdetot  in  mentioning  me  to 
you — I  don't  mean  to  be  Troublesome,  very 
far  from  it,  I  am  much  more  ambitious  of  ye 
Honor  of  your  Esteem  than  of  any  thing  else; 
I  flatter  myself  with  being  able  to  Cultivate 
that  of  your  acquaintance  this  Winter — being 
invited  to  spend  [letter  torn]  Le  Marquis  de 
Turgot's  house  brother  to  ye  Late  Comptrolleur 
general — the  Intendant  of  the  City  has  thought 
proper  to  write  to  ye  Insignificant  admiralty 
of  Bayuex,  in  consequence  of  which  I  have 
been  put  in  posession  of  ye  wherry  in  which  the 
5  americans  Came  over;  this  has  prevented  the 
Intendant  from  Sending  to  ye  admiral  the  Me 
morial,  a  copy  of  which  I  had  taken  the 
Liberty  to  send  you.  No  Sooner  had  I  re 
ceived  the  wherry  than  I  offered  it  to  ye  In 
tendant  who  accepted  of  it — as  soon  as  he  make 

me 


APPENDIX    I.  337 

me  some  pecuniary  Present,  which  I  expect,  I 
have  informed  my  friends  at  Lorient  to  draw 
on  me  for  the  Sum  granted  whatever  it  will  be 
— I  have  not  Seen  the  Intendant  yet  — 

Poor  Colol :  Palfry6  I  am  Sincerely  sorry  for 
him;  after  having  served  his  Country  in  the 
field,  he  wou'd  have  greatly  have  Served  her 
here  also,  where  such  an  Establishment  is  so 
Necessary — I  earnestly  wish  them  another 
equally  capable  may  succeed  him — the  English 
Language  being  Common  to  both  the  Ameri 
cans  as  well  as  to  the  Inhabitants  of  Great 
Britain  the  former  become  often  Exposed  to 
be  Treated  as  Ennemies  Instead  of  being  taken 
by  the  hand  &  received  as  Friends — 

I  thank  you  very  kindly  for  your  reccomen- 
dations,  I  make  no  doubt  of  their  Weight 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  unfeigned  Re 
spect  Sir 

Your  Very  Humble  Servant 

St.  John  De  Crevecoeur 

Chez  Mr-  Le  Mozier  Marchd  Rue  S1-  Jean 
Caen — 

[Translated  from  the  French  original.] 

The  gentleman  who  recommended  himself, 
my  dear  doctor,  as  coming  from  me,  and  under 
the  name  of  St.  John,  is  the  one  of  whom  I  had 
the  honor  of  speaking  to  you  under  the  name  of 

Crevecoeur 


338  APPENDIX    I. 

Crevecoeur  which  is  borne  by  his  father,  whose 
friend  I  have  been  for  twenty  years.  As  the 
son  has  not  been  living  in  this  country  I  have 
no  personal  knowledge  of  him,  but  I  have  al 
ways  heard  him  well  spoken  of  by  his  father, 
and  it  is  for  his  sake,  my  dear  doctor,  that  I 
claim  your  kindness  for  his  son.  I  know  that 
he  is  very  much  attached  to  the  United  States 
and  that  no  one  has  felt  more  than  he  the 
calamities  attendant  upon  the  present  war.  I 
therefore  beg  of  you,  my  dear  doctor,  to  do 
everything  for  him  that  your  affairs  permit.  I 
have  been  unwell  for  several  days  and  could  not 
answer  your  letter  sooner.  I  hope,  my  dear 
doctor,  that  Winter  will  enable  me  to  see  you 
again.  In  the  mean  time,  give  me  a  little  place 
in  your  remembrance,  and  be  well  assured  of 
all  the  sentiments  of  attachment,  of  esteem,  and 
of  veneration,  with  which  I  have  the  honor  to 
be,  my  dear  doctor,  your  very  humble  and  very 
obedient  servant. 

(Signed)  La  Comtesse  d'Houdetot. 

Sanois,  Oct.  30,  1781. 


Caen  5th  Dec1*  1781 
Sir: 

The  news  of  the  great  victory  lately  gained 
in    Virginia    by    that    wise    &    excellent    man 

General 


APPENDIX    I.  339 

General  Washington,  must  necessarily  convulse 
with  joy  the  hearts  of  every  loyal  American 
as  well  as  those  of  every  good  Frenchman.  I 
who  enjoy  the  Privileges  of  this  double  citizen 
ship  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  congratulate, 
on  this  memorable  event  the  representatif  of 
the  former  Society — a  Society  to  which  I  have 
belonged  27  years,  receive  then,  I  pray,  with 
your  usual  kindness,  my  most  sincere  congratu 
lations  on  this  memorable  event  which  I  would 
fain  hope,  must  place  the  keystone  to  the 
strong  arch  of  our  American  Independency  and 
give  peace  to  the  world. 

I  am  with  the  highest  esteem  &  the  most 
unfeigned  Respect  Sir 

Your  very  humble  servant 

St-  Jean  de  Crevecoeur. 

P.S. — The  Americans  who  escaped  from 
England  last  summer  are  happily  embark'd  at 
Nantes  for  Newberry  in  the  State  of  Massa 
chusetts. 


[Translated  from  the  French  original.] 

The  Countess  d'Houdetot  who  has  the 
honor  of  sending  a  thousand  tender  compli 
ments  to  M.  Franklin  begs  of  him  kindly  to 
cause  this  package  to  be  sent  to  America.  It 

belongs 


340  APPENDIX    I. 

belongs  to  M.  St.  John  de  Crevecoeur  to  whom 
he  has  already  rendered  this  service  for  her 
sake.  M.  de  St.  John  is  likewise  anxious  to 
know  whether  M.  Franklin  has  received  and 
accepted  a  book  on  the  troubles  and  misfor 
tunes  of  America  which  he  had  the  honor  of 
sending  him.*  Madame  de  Houdetot  hopes 
that  M.  Franklin's  health  is  good.  She  begs 
him  to  accept  the  assurance  of  her  tender  at 
tachment.  M.  St.  John  de  Crevecoeur's  ad 
dress  is  care  of  M.  de  Lile,  lieutenant-general 
of  Baillage  [Sic]  at  Caen. 
Sanois,t  Oct.  18,  1782. 

I  have  been  Wittness  whilst  I  was  in  Amer 
ica  of  a  CirCumstance  which  I  think,  it  Im 
ports  Your  Excellency  to  Know;  my  Good  In 
tention  will  I  hope,  apologyse  for  the  Liberty 
I  am  taking,  if  your  Excellency  is  acquainted 
With  it;  if  unknown,  it  is  Certainly  my  duty  as 
a  good  Cytysen  of  that  Country  to  Inform  you 
of  what  Follows — 

In  the  year  1775  Samuel  Bayard  Junior 

deputy 


*That  is,  the  volume  here  reprinted. 

tThe  chateau  which  Mme  d'Houdetot  owned  at  Sanois 
was  destroyed ;  but  the  house  which  she  occupied  at  Eau- 
bonne  exists  unchanged.  The  grove,  the  water-fall,  even 
the  acacia  of  which  Rousseau  speaks  may  still  be 
seen  .  .  . — Note  of  M.  Musset-Pattay.  Vide*  the  "Con 
fessions,"  pt.  ii.  bk.  ix. 


APPENDIX    I.  341 

deputy  Secretary  of  the  then  Province  of  New 
York,  was  ordered  by  ye  Convention  to  the 
house  of  Nicholas  Bayard  a  Mile  out  of  Town, 
in  order  to  Watch  over  the  records  of  the  Prov 
ince,  then  under  the  Guard  of  a  Capt.  &  30 
Men;  Some  time  after,  they  were  Transported 
to  Kingston  on  the  North  River,  Vulgarily 
Called  Eusopus;  under  the  Guard  of  the  Same 
Person,  &  the  Same  Military  Party;  18  Months 
after  the  said  Samuel  Bayard,  Contrary  to  ye 
oath  he  had  Taken  to  ye  Convention,  found 
Means  of  Sending  that  part  of  those  Records 
which  Contained  the  Grant  of  Lands  &ca  to 
Govr  Tryon  then  on  board  the  Dutchess  of 
Gordon;  Since  that,  they  have  been  Conveyed 
to  the  Tower  of  London,  where  they  now  are; 
those  papers,  fortunately  become  useless  to  G. 
Britain,  at  the  return  of  the  Peace,  must  be  of 
the  Greatest  Consequence  to  that  State,  be 
cause,  as  you  well  Know,  they  Contain  not  only 
the  Title  of  Lands  but  the  Copy  of  Wills  &c. 
I  cannot  Terminate  this  Letter  Without  taking 
the  Liberty  of  Congratulating  your  Excellency, 
not  only  as  a  Man,  an  European,  a  Gaul,  but 
as  an  American  Cytisen,  on  the  happy,  thrice 
happy  revolution,  which  you  have  began  Con 
ducted  &  Terminated  With  So  much  Wisdom; 
hence  forth  Will  begin  a  New  Era  in  the  an 
nals  of  Mankind,  far  more  Interesting  than 

those 


342  APPENDIX    I. 

those  absurd  revolutions  which  have  hitherto 
Stained  the  Earth  With  Blood  Without 
meliorating  it;  May  Nature  Extend  your  days 
to  the  utmost  Verge,  to  the  End  you  may  See 
ye  Misfortunes  of  War  repaired  the  Energy  of 
this  new  people,  the  Wisdom  of  their  Laws, 
the  Industry  of  those  New  States  admired  & 
respected  by  all  nations. —  Permit  me  to  add 
that  I  am  the  Person  who  under  the  Name  of 
St.  Jean  de  Crevecoeur  had  the  honor  of  dining 
With  your  Excellency  Last  March,  With  ye 
Comtesse  de  Houdetot  &  who  last  July  Sent 
you,  by  the  hands  of  Mr.  Turgot  a  book  In- 
titled,  Letters  of  An  American  Farmer. — 

I  am  With  the  most  unfeigned  Respect 
Your  Excellency's 

Most  obedient  Humble  Servant 

H.  St.  John. 
Chez  Mr-  Le  Marquis 
de  Blangy  Lieut-General 
Caen-Normandie 
1783. 


[Translated  from  the  French  original.] 

M.  de  Crevecoeur  is  very  anxious,  my  dear 
doctor,  for  an  answer  which  he  expects  from 
you  in  regard  to  the  matter  of  which  he  spoke 

to 


APPENDIX    I.  343 

to  you  recently.  As  he  is  obliged  to  give  an 
account  of  it  to  M.  de  Castries,  it  is  very  im 
portant  that  he  should  receive  this  answer,  and 
he  thought  that  I  might  help  to  hasten  it.  The 
esteem  in  which  I  hold  him  and  the  extreme 
interest  which  I  have  in  him  will  not  permit 
me  to  refuse,  knowing  very  well  the  embarrass 
ment  into  which  your  failure  to  reply  would 
put  him  with  M.  de  Castries,  with  whom  he 
has  an  interview  on  Friday  not  only  in  regard 
to  that  matter  but  to  others  of  importance  to 
him.  I  still  hope,  my  dear  doctor,  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you  at  8  o'clock  on  Thurs 
day.  You  know  how  great  a  value  I  place  on 
this  meeting. 

La  Ctesse  d'  Houdetot. 

Will  you  kindly  send  me  by  the  porter  a 
muff  which  I  left  at  your  house? 

Wednesday,  April  2,  1783. 

Caen  ist  July  1786 
Your  Excellency : 

I  Embrace  with  Great  Pleasure  the  Favour 
able  opportunity  of  Mr-  Dejean's  Return  to 
Philadelphia,  in  order  to  present  my  Respects 
to  Your  Excellency: — the  Good  Marquis  dela 
Fayette  and  I,  we  had  conceived  Strong  Hopes 
of  seeing  him  appointed  Agent  for  Georgia 
from  whence  it  was  Probable  the  Minister 

wou'd 


344  APPENDIX    I. 

wou'd  draw  annually  a  large  quantity  of  Life 
Oak — but  the  Northern  Contractors  have  been 
too  Successfull,  and  have  destroyed  all  Mr< 
Dejean  Expectation;  he  is  the  bearer  of  a  Let 
ter  from  the  Good  Comtesse  de  Houdetot,  who 
has  warmly  Interested  herself  in  his  behalf;  I 
hope  the  Situation  of  his  affairs  &  your  Ex 
cellency's  Influence  will  Enable  him  to  Return, 
&  dwell  once  more  in  his  house  at  Detroit  in 
Peace  &  Security. 

I  have  the  Honor  of  being  with  the  High 
est  Consideration  and  Respect 
Your  Excellency's 

Most  obedient  Humble  servant 
St.  John  de  Crevecoeur. 


Sir: 

I  forgot  the  other  day  To  Inquire  of  you 
when  I  cou'd  procure  Two  of  your  Medals 
which  I  have  Imprudentely  promised  in  Nor 
mandy — after  Fruitless  Inquiry,  I  find  myself 
obliged  to  ask  you  that  Question  being  anxious 
To  procure  them  ere  I  leave  the  Capitol  which 
will  be  on  Saturday — 

I  am  with  unfeigned  Respect 

Sir        Your  Very  Humble  Servt 

St.  Jean  de  Crevecoeur. 
Paris,  Tuesday  Night — 

Sir: 


APPENDIX    I.  345 

Sir: 

The  Marquis  de  Cartier  shewed  me  Yester 
day  the  Model  of  y'  Edict  which  he  proposes 
obtaining  for  the  Establishment  of  the  5 
Pacquet  boats —  I  desired  him  to  Send  it  to 
you,  Ere  he  has  presented  it,  which  he  will 
shortly  do,  I  beg  you'd  Read  it  attentively  & 
send  him  back  all  your  observations  thereon, — 
Woud  you  be  Kind  Enough  to  Inform  the 
Comtesse  de  Houdetot,  in  what  part  of  the 
Town  that  big  Wire  is  to  be  had,  that  She  may 
place  a  second  Electrical  Rod. 

I  am  with  Respect 

Sir  Your  Very  Humble  Servt. 

St.  John. 

[No  date.] 


New  York, 1787. 

Sir: 

Having  lately  crossed  the  Ocean  with  the 
commodore  Paul  Jones,  I  embrace  the  oppor 
tunity  of  his  going  to  Philadelphia  to  transmit 
your  Excellency  a  Bundle  which  Mr.  Short7 
gave  me,  a  Letter  from  the  good  Comtesse  de 
Houdetot,  &  the  Second  Edition  of  the 
American  Farmer's  Letters,  with  the  addition 
of  a  3d  Volume,  which  please  to  accept  as  a 

well 


346  APPENDIX    I. 

well  meant  Testimony,  of  the  Veneration  &  un- 
feign'd  Respect  of  the  author,  as  well  as  of  the 
Man. — Let  me  beg  that  whenever  your  Excel 
lency  shall  think  fit  to  Send  an  answer  to  the 
good  Comtesse's  Letter  it  may  be  conveyed  to 
me,  that  I  may  forward  it  in  the  safest  manner. 
I  am  with  the  most  sincere  Respect  and 
Esteem 

Your    Excellency's,    Most    obedient    humble 
Servant 

St.  John  de  Crevecoeur, 


New  York  the  3<Dth  Jany  1788 
Sir: 

Having  accidentally  become  acquainted  with 
a  Mr.  Fitch8  from  your  City,  whose  curious  ex 
periment  on  the  Delaware  I  had  much  heard 
of;  I  ask'd  him  a  great  many  questions  con 
cerning  his  new  method  of  applying  the  power 
of  Steam,  to  which  he  answer'd  with  much  dif 
fidence  &  modesty,  and  communicated  to  me 
several  Certificates  from  several  of  the  most 
respectable  persons  in  Philadelphia,  a  Copy 
of  one  of  which  I  hereby  transmit  you. 
Anxious  to  know  how  far  you  think  it  may  be 
rendered  useful  for  inland  Navigation,  I  take 
the  liberty  of  asking  your  opinion  concerning 
this  new  Invention  of  which  I  make  no  doubt 

you 


APPENDIX    I.  347 

you  have  often  heard.  Embracing  this  oppor 
tunity  of  recalling  myself  to  your  memory  give 
me  leave  to  present  you  with  the  assurances  of 
my  unfeigned  respect. 

Your  Excellency's 

Most  Obedient  humble  Servant 
St.  John. 

New  Yorke  12th  March  1788 
Sir: 

I  duely  Received  the  Letter  you  honored 
me  with  Some  Time  before  the  Packet  Sailed, 
With  one  Inclosed  for  our  mutual  &  very  Re 
spectable  Friend  the  Comtesse  de  Houdetot, 
which  I  forwarded  along  with  mine,  by  a  Pas 
senger  who  was  bound  to  Paris;  this  Vessel 
Sailed  24  days  ago; — I  am  much  obliged  to 
you  for  your  opinion  concerning  the  Steam 
boat,  &  am  in  great  hopes  that  the  Encour 
agement,  which  it  is  Likely  Mr.  Fitch  will  ob 
tain  from  Congress  will  enable  him  to  cheapen, 
Simplify  &  render  his  Machine  Still  more  use 
ful —  Like  all  other  Inventions,  it  will  no  doubt 
give  his  author  a  great  deal  of  Trouble  & 
anxiety  ere  he  has  brought  it  to  its  last  degree 
of  Perfection — I  wish  most  Sincerely  that  he 
may  Succeed,  &  then  will  he  be,  most  Justly 
Intitled  to  the  Thanks  &  applause  of  both 
America  &  Europe — 

I  Recv'd 


348  APPENDIX    I. 

I  Recv'd  yesterday  your  Letter  of  the  ioth 
Instant  containing  Two  Packets,  which  will  be 
forwarded  on  Sunday,  by  a  vessel  bound  to 
Morlaix  no  Letters  for  the  Gentm  you  men 
tion  have  Reach'd  my  hands;  if  any  ever  should 
rest  assured  that  I  shall  Transmit  them  To 
you  by  Some  Safe  hands — whenever  you  have 
any  for  your  Friends  in  Paris,  I  beg  you'd 
Freely  Send  them  to  me.  I  shall  Take  the 
Same  Care  of  them  as  I  do  of  my  own —  With 
the  Most  unfeigned  esteem  Veneration  &  Re 
spect,  I  am  Your  very  Humble  Servt. 

St.  John  de  Crevecoeur.9 


APPENDIX   II. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


[Translated  from  the  French  edition,  1784.] 

"The  city  of  New  York  is  handsome,  al 
though  irregular.  This  irregularity  proceeds 
from  the  nature  of  the  soil,  from  the  steepness 
of  the  peninsula  on  which  the  first  houses  were 
built,  as  well  as  from  the  necessity  of  con 
tinually  forming  artificial  ground  to  increase 
the  extent  of  the  city  and  procure  for  its  trade 
the  needful  warehouses  and  quays.  The  in 
habitants  derive  this  taste  for  building  on  the 
water  from  the  early  Dutch  settlers,  and  the 
admirable  skill  with  which  they  accomplish  it 
from  their  own  wisdom.  There  is  not,  I  be 
lieve,  another  city  on  this  Continent,  where  the 
art  of  laying  the  foundations  of  quays  and  of 
constructing  them  has  been  pushed  further.  I 
have  seen  one  built  in  forty  feet  of  water.  This 
was  done  with  trunks  of  pine  trees  fastened  to 
gether,  which  they  drive  in  with  rocks,  the  sur 
face  of  which  is  then  covered  with  earth.  — 

Beaver 

349 


350  APPENDIX    II. 

Beaver  Street,  which  to-day  is  so  far  distant 
from  the  sea,  was  named  thus  because  formerly 
it  was  a  small  bay  in  which  these  animals  had 
formed  an  embankment.  I  have  conversed 
with  old  inhabitants  who  told  me  that  they  had 
seen  the  sea  mount  up  to  the  very  neighbor 
hood  of  the  City  Hall. 

Certain  streets  have  side-walks  on  both  sides 
paved  with  slabs  of  rock,  and  adorned  with 
plane-trees  whose  shade  in  summer  is  equally 
pleasant  to  the  passers  by  and  to  the  houses. 
Here  one  finds  a  union  of  Dutch  neatness  with 
English  taste  and  architecture.  The  houses 
are  finished,  placed,  and  painted  with  the  great 
est  care.  Here  the  merchants  are  intelligent, 
able,  and  rich;  and  the  artisans  very  skillful, 
especially  the  carpenters,  the  cabinet  makers 
and  the  joiners.  Stone  being  rare,  nearly  the 
whole  city  is  built  of  bricks.  Let  those  who  like 
myself  have  experienced  the  extreme  hospitality 
of  the  New  Yorkers  praise  it  as  it  deserves. 
New  York  being  the  constant  meeting  place 
of  the  English  packet-boats,  this  city  is  neces 
sarily  the  first  that  European  strangers  enter. 
The  reception  which  they  receive  here  is  enough 
to  give  them  a  high  idea  of  American  gen 
erosity,  as  well  as  of  the  simple  and  cordial 
friendliness  which  they  are  to  expect  in  the 

other  cities  of  this  Continent 

The 


APPENDIX    II.  351 

The  streets  are  frequently  cleaned,  and  are 
lighted  during  the  dark  nights.  The  city  con 
tains  three  thousand  four  hundred  houses, 
twenty-eight  thousand  inhabitants,  and  twenty 
churches  belonging  to  different  sects.  It  is  a 
pleasure  to  see  also  a  College  beautifully  built. 
It  is  furnished  with  an  excellent  library  and 
with  a  great  number  of  costly  mathematical 
instruments.  One  regrets  only  that  this  new 
academy  has  not  been  erected  far  from  the 
city,  in  some  rural  retreat,  where  the  scholars 
had  been  far  removed  from  the  tumults  of  busi 
ness,  and  the  dissipations  and  pleasures  that  are 
so  numerous  in  large  cities. — Recently  there 
was  built  at  a  convenient  distance  from  New 
York,  on  an  eminence  not  far  from  the  Hud 
son  River,  a  magnificent  hospital  for  sailors, 
the  architecture,  situation,  and  establishing  of 
which  do  great  honor  to  the  good  citizens  who 
founded  it 

But  nothing  is  more  beautiful,  and  nothing 
gives  the  reflective  spectator  a  higher  idea  of 
the  city's  wealth,  or  of  the  nature  of  its  free 
and  happy  commerce,  than  the  multitude  of 
ships  of  all  sizes,  which  continually  tack  about 
in  the  bay,  either  to  sail  free  of  the  harbor,  or 
to  reach  the  city. 


NOTES. 

NOTE  I. 

Abbe  Raynal. — Guillaume-Thomas-Frangois 
Raynal  (1713-1796).  The  "Abbe  Raynal" 
was  a  literary  free-lance  of  inexhaustible  vigor 
and  fertility.  He  was  a  fierce  controversialist, 
and,  in  his  own  strident  way,  a  lover  of  liberty. 
His  great  reputation  at  the  time  of  his  death 
caused  booksellers  to  publish  various  works 
under  his  name.  Among  the  objects  of  his 
fiercest  attacks  were  the  Inquisition  and  Euro 
pean  methods  of  colonization.  Exiled  from 
France,  he  took  refuge  successively  at  the 
Courts  of  Berlin  and  St.  Petersburg,  but  re 
turned  to  his  native  district  during  the  Revo 
lution.  Some  of  his  chief  works  were :  "His- 
toire  du  divorce  de  Henri  Fill,  roi  df  Angle- 
terre,  et  de  Catharine  d'Aragon"  (1763); 
"Histoire  philosophique  et  politique  des  etab- 
Hssements  et  du  commerce  des  Europeens  dans 
les  deux  Indes"  (1770),  and  "Tableau  et 
Revolution  des  colonies  Anglaises  de  I'Amer- 
ique  Septentrionale" 

NOTE    2. 


NOTES.  353 

NOTE   2. 

Two  maps,  one  of  Nantucket  and  one  of 
Martha's  Vineyard,  appear  in  the  original  edi 
tion,  which  it  has  been  thought  well  to  omit. 

NOTE  3. 

Crevecoeur's  statements  with  regard  to  the 
life  of  the  Charleston  gentry  should  be  received 
with  caution.  His  sense  for  literary  atmosphere 
led  him  to  exaggerate,  almost  to  caricature, 
elements  in  that  life  which  were  real  enough, 
but  not  of  quite  such  tropical  color. 

NOTE  4. 

It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  whether  the  Rus 
sian  gentleman  supposed  to  have  written  this 
letter  had  a  real  existence,  or  whether  he  was 
merely  a  part  of  Crevecoeur's  mystification; 
probably  the  latter. 

NOTE  5. 

James  Duane  (1733-1797);  a  prominent 
New  York  jurist,  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  first  Mayor  of  New  York  under 
the  city's  new  charter  derived  from  the  State 
Legislature. 


354  NOTES. 

NOTE  6. 

William  Palfrey  (1741-1780);  aide  of 
Washington,  and  Paymaster-General.  In  1780 
he  was  appointed  Consul-General  to  France  by 
a  unanimous  vote  of  Congress,  but  the  ship 
on  which  he  sailed  was  lost  with  all  on  board. 

NOTE  7. 

William  Short  (1759-1849);  American 
charge  d'affaires  in  France  in  1789. 

NOTE   8. 

John  Fitch  (1743-1798);  explorer  and  in 
ventor.  He  patented  a  steamboat  in  1791. 

NOTE  9. 

The  letters  given  in  Appendix  I.  were  fur 
nished  with  great  kindness  and  courtesy  by  Pro 
fessor  Albert  H.  Smyth  of  Philadelphia,  who 
intended  to  present  them  first  in  the  elaborate 
edition  of  the  works  of  Franklin,  which  he  is 
preparing.  Two  Crevecoeur  letters,  pointed 
out  by  him,  but  not  available,  are  to  be  found 
in  the  Duer  Collection  of  the  Pennsylvania  His 
torical  Society  and  in  the  Stevens  Collection 
of  Franklin  papers  in  the  Library  of  Congress 
(No.  875),  respectively.  Letters  to  Creve- 


NOTES.  355 

coeur  can  be  found  in  Bigelow's  edition  of 
Franklin,  ix.,  4,  and  457  (relative  to  Creve- 
coeur's  plans  with  regard  to  oceanic  packet- 
boats,  etc.),  and  in  P.  L.  Ford's  edition  of  Jef 
ferson,  iv.,  253  (relative  to  American  paper 
money) .  For  Washington's  letter  dealing  with 
Crevecoeur,  see  W.  C.  Ford's  edition  of  Wash 
ington,  xi.,  283. 

An  interesting  detail  given  in  Guyot  de 
Fere's  article  in  the  Nouville  Biographic  Gen 
erate  should  not  be  overlooked.  The  kindness 
shown  by  Crevecoeur  to  the  five  Americans,  de 
scribed  in  his  letter  of  August  27,  1781,  was 
returned  to  him  with  interest.  Learning  of  the 
incident,  a  gentleman  of  Boston,  by  the  name 
of  Fellows,  was  so  much  affected  by  it  that 
when  later  he  heard  that  Crevecoeur's  wife 
was  dead  and  his  children  in  distress,  the  kind 
man  hastened  from  Boston  to  New  York  to 
lend  his  aid.  Vide,  Journal  de  VEmpire,  No 
vember  21,  1813,  and  Lair,  Mem.  de  la  Soc. 
d'Agric.  de  Caen,  1823.  See  also  Sabin's 
Bibliotheca  Americana  for  details  as  to  the 
translations  of  the  Letters,  which  include  both  a 
German  and  a  Dutch  version  of  1784. 


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